Not Dead Yet

Forced Perspective

2011-12-06T14:39:00.001-08:00

I love to hear other's perspectives on things. I often ask for them in Facebook comments. The past few weeks have brought some interesting views. The BNSF railroad runs though Scottbluff and there are five railroad crossings. A few weeks ago they closed four of them. At least one was in bad need of repair. This sent a lot of people into ranting, like (WARNING: PICTURES OF DEAD ANIMALS) Rich here. I found it annoying that the signs telling you the crossing were closed were not very obvious. Beyond that, it was a minor inconvenience. Coming from Layton, Utah, where I could sit through five light changes at some intersections this time of year and barely move, there was not that much extra traffic through the one functional crossing. All of them except the one in bad need of repair are open now.

As far as being like Katie Bradshaw, Rich, we already have her posting pictures of Farmer's Markets. I don't see the need for another one. Not that Katie is bad. I liked reading about her education on guns. It's good to see other people's point of view. I've never heard the term 'Smells like money'. Again back in Layton we lived just south of an Air Force base. The noise of the F-16s causes some to complain and other to reply that's the 'Sound of Freedom'. By the way, an F-22 (it has a distinctive diamond shape) passing over one day had a 'Sound of Freedom' that rattled the windows. That's progress for you.

One final note to myself. If the squirrel in my neighborhood ever succeeds in it's quest to be part of Rich's blog on road kill, I need to make sure to send the photo. So far it's 0 and 3 since September. It apparently didn't consider my excellent reflexes honed from years of video games.

Halloween 2010

2011-11-02T05:44:00.001-07:00

Halloween this year went better than last year. Last year Thomas told me he was meeting some friends at school to go trick or treating. We got to the school and no one was there. As we were still new I didn’t have anyone to contact. This year I made sure to check with parents on his arrangements. He went with Sam who went around the school again. He came home with a pillow case halfway filled.

Patrick did a little worse this year by his standards. He went to Owen’s house, which is a little isolated. He didn’t get as much candy as Thomas because the houses were fewer. He wanted to continue trick or treating around our house but by then it was after 9 o’clock and we refused. He did get dinner at a local restaurant.

Rachel spent the evening at a friend’s house watching movies. She’s done with trick or treating.

April brought home a cool ghost cake. Tastes good too!

Voyagers!

2011-10-18T16:51:00.000-07:00

I finished watching the last DVD of Voyagers! I remember watching them when it first aired. The show had some cheesy elements to it typical of the 1980s but was well done. Some of the history is also wrong, but in general they did okay. It was fun to watch. It’s sad that it only lasted one season. I don’t think it ever showed in syndication. At least I finally got to see the episodes I missed when it was broadcast.

There were no extras on the DVDs, either There were some nice detail shots of the omni time travel device. I always thought whoever thought of it was pretty bright. It seemed like a simple, unobtrusive device to use for traveling through time. I also like the detail of the time travel itself. The characters were always dressed in whatever clothes they were wearing when the omni was triggered. No stock shots except for the last episode. I guess they knew at that time there was not going to be a second season.

I also bought a DVD of A More Perfect Union: America Becomes A Nation. It's a really good story of the Constitutional Convention especially considering it was from BYU :). Shot on location with excellent acting. I highly recommend it.

Netflix has decided to not split their DVD service off into a separate company. I am not sure how it would help except to make it easier to phase out the discs. Not everything is available for streaming, though. Case and point the above. I prefer streaming, but still want to watch things like this.

Pick up soccer games

2011-10-07T12:57:00.000-07:00

Every Sunday for the past month or so the boys and I have go to the local soccer complex to play a pick up game for about two hours. Sometimes I have only one of two adusts, other times there there are three or four or more. The first time I played I was out of breath halfway through the game. For the next few games my legs and feet hurt so bad I could barely walk for days afterward. Slowly it's been getting better. I am not a good player, but I do have fun.

Harry Potter Lego

2011-03-02T17:11:00.001-08:00

When the boys and I went to Laramie for an indoor soccer tournament in February, Blockbuster sent us the game Harry Potter Lego Years 1 – 4 for the Wii. April had put it in the queue about a year ago. She and Rachel started to play it, and spent the whole weekend on it. After about three weeks, they finished the main game. There are still a bunch of side games they could play, but they are done.

Two Teenagers

2011-03-01T14:57:00.001-08:00

At the beginning of the year it hit me… I have two teenagers in the house. Patrick turned 13 on December 30, 2010. Rachel is 15 now. I took her down to the DMV last week to get a Learners Permit. She had been taking the practice tests online for more than a month. Initially she wanted to go on a Saturday. It took a while for her to understand that they would not be open on the weekend. Then again, I just accepted it as absurd that a government office would be open on a weekend. Anyway, one afternoon I drove her down. I had her birth certificate and a couple of pieces of mail with our address on them. I headed back home to get her social security care and some other pieces of paper with our address on them after dropping her off to fill out the application. I hear its worse in Utah, where they want W-2s, mail, bills, birth certificates, and all manner of documentation before handing over the card. The guy who examined it all wanted to know why the birth certificate was from the department of health instead of biostatistics. I thought all of these came from the department of health. I am not sure I like being a statistic. They then sit her down to take the test. She told me it said she passed, but didn’t say by how much. Rachel can now drive legally so long as a licensed adult over 21 is with her.

Nebraska

2011-02-13T10:15:00.000-08:00

We are coming up on seven months living in the Nebraska Panhandle.
The house in Utah was sold on January 28. Not for as much as we were hoping, but we made some money at least. As I told one person here, I guess we are now committed to living in Nebraska. Right now, we have been renting a small 3 bedroom, 1 and ¼ bathroom house. It presents some interesting challenges as far as bathing. Everyone needs to be aware of when everybody else wants to take a shower. Most of the time it works out, but there are the inevitable conflicts. I think when we do buy a house; the kids will appreciate the extra room for a short time.
Of course, everyone asked how I like it here. It’s different, both good and bad. The biggest difference when we first got here was the lack of mountains. The kids commented on that immediately. There is a lack of variety of businesses. For grocery, there is Walmart, Safeway, and the Panhandle Co-op. There are a number of Mexican restaurants, a few Oriental, and a couple of chain ones (Chili’s and Applebee’s). No Starbucks, no Burger King. I think one of the biggest annoyances for me is the directions. If I ask a local where something is, the answer is in relation to something else instead of an address or street. The Walmart? It’s by the Home Depot, not Avenue I off highway 26. It’s ok if you know the town, and I am getting better with it. But I still like to know at least the street, and I still Google things for the address a lot.
On the positive side, everything is no more than five minutes away. It took about two months to get over the anxiety that if a Scout meeting was at 7, I didn’t need to be ready to go at 6:30. Even when the distance was the same, in Layton I needed to allow for traffic. Although sometimes I don’t know what to do with an extra 25 minutes.

Becca

2010-01-20T17:14:00.000-08:00

Rachel went to Barnes and Noble bookstore with April to get a book last August. A guy was outside giving away Schnauzer puppies. Se convinced me over the cell phone to let her have one. The kids named her Becca. She’s somewhat stubborn, and as a puppy she is into everything. About a week and a half after getting her, she got into some weeds and had burrs all over that buried themselves in her fur. We had to have her shaved almost bald to get all of them out.

She has learned much since then, although she still sneaks into Thomas’s room to get stuffed animals to play with. Leo is his tolerant self, which is kind of amazing considering she likes to jump in his face and bite his nose. She does get into trouble with him, usually because she tried to run in front of him and despite his best efforts to avoid her, he steps on her.

With winter, I discovered she is a snow magnet. Her fur is long and stringy, and the snow just clumps on it. I took the dogs for a walk one day, and her legs were so covered she could barely walk.

Long Time

2010-01-17T19:56:00.000-08:00

Yes, it has been a long time since the last post. I think I just lost interest in blogging. I’ve read ‘Pragmatic Learning and Thinking’ by Andy Hunt, and he encourages blogging as a good exercise for the brain and I agree.
I now intend to catch up. April started looking for a new job as a lab director last summer. She had a few offers, and decided to take an assistant director position in Scottsbluff, Nebraska. They were pretty good about letting her finish up with school and waiting until December to start.

The big problem with this for me was finding a new job. My current job at the time would not allow me to work remotely. I decided the first place to look was my last employer, since they have many people working remotely. Lo and behold, my old position was posted. I applied and was contacted in a day. I explained the circumstances, and they had no issue with it. They now have people working all over the world (my orientation was shared with people in the UK, Germany, and Russia), so this is a good fit.

April found a place to live and moved to Scottsbluff in December. She came back for Christmas, but is living there alone until the kids finish school for the year. We looked at the schools (the parochial school only goes to the sixth grade, and both Rachel and Patrick are beyond that now), and they are ok. Rachel did a tour of the high school, and liked it.

JrNYLC

2009-07-09T18:03:00.001-07:00

Patrick was nominated by the school counselor to go to Washington, D.C
for a youth leadership conference know as JrNYLC. He would need to fly out there by
himself. April and I were not too comfortable about it. One the return
trip he would need to change planes because there were no direct flights
in the time frame they required to drop him off. He does have a direct
flight out, and calls after he gets there to tell us it was long and
boring. The conference emails us each day with links to pictures. He
is not in the first days set of 85, which was weird to me because he
is usually a ham for a camera. He does show up about 50 pictures in
on day 2. Of the hundreds of photos, he is in 3. He did have a great
time, going to Harper's Ferry, the American History muesam (which
was closed for renovation the last time we were there), and the
Newseum amoung other places.

The flight back was delayed taking off, and he missed the connecting
flight. April called the airline, and was told the next flight was
full, so they'd send him back. She had to explain that he was heading
home, not leaving. Ok, then they can put him in a hotel. Right, an
11 year old by himself in a hotel. They called about about a half
hour later to tell April he was on the next flight. My guess is
that they bumped somebody rather than be responsible for a child
(takes up one employees time).

Baseball 2009

2009-07-09T17:58:00.000-07:00

I coached baseball again for Patrick this year. There is a new
guy running Ogden City youth sports. He allowed coaches to form
up to 6 boys on a team. Boys not selected go to a tryout. Coaches
then evaluate the tryouts, and do a round robin draft. I selected
4 players I had last year, and 2 more from cub scouts (that had never
played baseball before). I managed to pick up another player from
last year in the draft, and 5 more I didn't know. Given that, it
was not a bad team. A few interesting things I noticed. Last year,
I had 10 boys, 8 of whom wanted to pitch. This year, I had 12 (one
more would be added just before the first regular game), and only
Patrick wanted to pitch. 3 others would do it if I asked, but reluctantly.
Last year, I had 1 kid want to be catcher, this year 1 more wanted
to do it. The first 2 boys to get a hit and score a run were the
2 that had never played before. In the end we only won 1 game,
but 3 of the boys (aside from the 4 who are school friends of
Patrick) wanted to know if they could play for me next
year. That makes it all good.

The fourth or fifth game into the season, Patrick is playing
shortstop. The ball is hit out to him, takes a bounce, and hits
him in the knee. He manages to pick it up and throw the batter
out at first. My assistant coach tells me my son is lying on the
ground. I carried him off, and April took him to the doctor the
next day. X-rays didn't show a break, and the doctor thought it
was a bruise. He said he could not walk, and was on crutches for
the next week. He was playing again by then. This, however, is
not the last of the story. The X-ray tech called the next day to
tell us something strange was on the shots. If there was any more
problems, we needed to bring him back in. It would happen last week.

Thomas made the same baseball team as last year. The coach seemed
a little stressed this year, and complained to me a few times that
there were too many kids on the team. I guess this was a hint, but
Thomas wants to play with his friends so I didn't take it. He did
say that Thomas had a strong arm and was one of the few boys who
could throw from third to first base. We showed up to all the
practices on the schedule he passed out, and I noted that the
contact list had my cell number as the primary number. Thomas sat
out all but one inning of the first few games. Then I started to
get questioned on why we were missing practices. I told him I
didn't hear about any more practices. I assumed we had missed a
call, but I didn't find any numbers on my caller id for the cell or
home phone. Toward the end of the season April told me she didn't
see him bat even though they had gone through the line up twice.
Thomas confirmed he didn't, and when he asked the coach about
it he was told to sit down. I asked about this, and the coach got
defensive and said yes, he did. and how could even suggest that
happen?I wasn't there, so I could not say what went on. I do
know he did get up to bat at the games before (he gets upset
with himself if he strikes out). The last game I watched very
closely, and he got ready, only to have some of the other boys
on the team yell at him. When I asked the scorekeeper where his
number was in the batting order, she told me he was on second base.
No, he never batted. I think now I know what happens. The games
he did not bat the kid who bats before him was not there. This
confused some of the boys who told him it was not his turn. The
unfortunate part is that I lost my temper with the coaches (the
one I talked to was not there). I don't understand why nobody
noticed. He goes to school with these kids, his teacher was there.
I probably shocked them because only Thomas has seen me lose my
temper before.

Not everything that went wrong had to do with the team. Pictures
were done at Lindquist Field where they had base running, pitching,
and hitting. April and Rachel had a Girl Scout activity, so I
had the boys. Thomas went off with his team, and I stayed with mine.
My team was in line to do the hitting, when a halt was called to
do the flag and introduce the guest. After most of the teams,
including Thomas, went to get free hot dogs. My team wanted to
go back and hit. That took another 15 minutes, and when we went
out to get food, there was no sign of Thomas or his team. I started
calling cell numbers of parents on the team, but found him by a
table. He was mad at me because he didn't know where I was.
Another time he had a game that started a half hour before Patrick
had Boy Scouts. I dropped him off at the game, watched it for ten
minutes, then got Patrick in the van to go to scouts 15 minutes away,
planning to drop him off and go back to the game. 10 minutes into
the trip, it starts to rain. 2 minutes later, the coach calls; they
called the game, and where was I? One of the parents dropped him off
at the Boy Scout meeting.

The upside is that Thomas still wants to play baseball, but not
with this team.

Is anybody there?

2009-07-09T17:57:00.000-07:00

It's been a while, but I just have not felt like posting. I have a few to post now.

My Thoughts on Star Trek (SPOILER ALERT)

2009-05-18T16:09:00.000-07:00

The view of the hull from the bridge of the Kelvin was interesting. Are
these windows with a HUD, or viewscreens? The scenes before
the main title were excellent. One little nit-pick: Kirk's mother is
the only one watching the Kelvin get destroyed. One of the doctors was
not human, but the other appeared to be. I would have thought he would
be watching.

Bad:
Sigh. Nero is another in the long list of paper villians. I expected
it, though, because the time needed to develop main characters. But
the recently late Ricardo Montablan still wears the mantle of best
Trek villian.

The scene with the car was a throw away. It did take me a couple of days
to place the voice on the other end of the phone. Ethan Phillips?

Engineering on the Enterprise looks like a brewery. Huge tanks with
workstations in front? And the bridge was !BRIGHT WHITE!. I liked
the bridge of the Kelvin and I hope the Enterprise is toned down
in the next movie.

Why can Spock Prime see Vulcan destroyed from Delta Vega? Is it a moon,
or a space station?

Sigourney Weaver in Galaxy Quest is screaming in my head "What is the
purpose
of this?!?" after Kirk and Scotty beam in. I would have prefered an
intruder
alert and a chase through the ship. It seemed a little contrived.

The climatic battle with Nero seemed easy. At least throw the Enterprise
in front of the missles. On the other hand, there was no transporter
malfunction cliffhanger where Spock or Kirk can't make it back onboard
until the very last second.

James Kirk hasn't finished Starfleet Academy before he is made
captain of Starfleet's flagship? That's a leap. However, Spock Prime
is standing in back watching over it all. I had the feeling he had
been manipulating events ala Darth Sidious/Palpatine without the
evil revenge endgame.

Good:
The acting was superb. The last scene of Chris Pine stepping on the
bridge had me thinking "Wow, that's James T. Kirk!". I knew Quinto
would do a good Spock and was still pleasantly surprised by the
way he did it. The scene at the Vulcan Science Academy was a
favorite. Salanda had a bigger part than I expected, but was
well done. Cho was more limited and still good. Yelstin as Chekov
was over the top at first, but came back down. Pegg was more of
a comic relief Scotty, still the character worked. Sarek (can't come
up with the actors name right now) was just the right touch
when needed. I would have been happy to leave Chris Pike in the
captain's chair. Bruce Greenwood was my favorite in this movie.
I hope he has a part in the next one.

I could not help getting a little choked up at Nimoy's first line, and
he assumed the character that made him famous with ease. Even the scene
between Quinto and Nimoy is touching. This was the perfect part for
Nimoy's Spock. There was the puppetmaster overtone although
it was used to put things right.

So my final analysis: Not quite up to the Wrath of Khan, but
a good second. The flaws were technical for the most part, or
a matter of taste.

One season down

2009-03-03T13:16:00.001-08:00

Indoor soccer is over. Patrick's team ended up in third place, losing out to a girls team and a La Roca team. Not bad overall. Thomas's team did not win at all, but he did get a few goals, so he is happy. They did win a few futsol games, and they still have a couple more to go.

Basketball has one more tournament in Pocatello (March 20-22). Patrick missed the first game of the tournament last week, and sat on the bench the next game. I was a little upset over it, because I have yet to see him play (although he has played), and I felt he didn't really want to. For the final game, the coach put him in the fourth period with the score 15-17 in our favor. He played the whole period, and the final score was 15-25. The opponent, Rowland Hall, did not get a single basket. He was in the face of each player who had the ball. They were forced to take long shots, and the very tall point guard got most of the rebounds.

Rachel has been busy with Girl Scouts, either helping other scouts or learning to be a counselor. Her top braces are off, and the results are stunning. She spent the last two months working on her science project. It was about the effects of color on memory. I thought she did well, but one of the judges (a high school boy) thought she did it at the last minute and marked her down. She seems to have had fun with it.

End of Entry

January to date

2009-01-26T13:04:00.001-08:00

Patrick is taking snowboarding lessons. He started two weeks ago, and is enjoying it. The instructor is the guy who sits next to me at work. After the first lesson he walked around for two days saying 'Ow', 'ow'. Apparently he fell on his butt quite a bit. The next session went much better, although April was not happy because on one run he 'caught air'. I didn't take him up last Sunday because of the rain and snow.

I usually run into people I know from the kids' school. Most of them ask where Rachel is. She had some skiing lessons a couple of years ago, but feels embarrassed that she isn't as good as her friends. A friend's of April daughter offered to teach her away from all her classmates, and she jumped at it. I hope she can gain some confidence.

It's been a busy month. Patrick is on the basketball team, and they have games and practice twice a week. April is not happy with the coach. Patrick has had about a minute of playing time in the three games played so far. He's not as good as the 'fab five', as April called them, but she thinks he should have some playing time each game. He doesn't care, but she feels it's not worth our time to get him to practices and games only to watch him sit there.

The schedule for the week this month has been: Monday April goes to class, and I run Thomas to soccer practice and then Patrick to basketball practice. Tuesday April runs Patrick to a basketball game, and then I pick him up, get him something to eat (Sizzler has been the choice), and then go to scouts while April goes to class. Wednesday April does homework and I take Thomas to scouts. Rachel has managed to upset him on at least two Wednesdays so that he hides in his room and we miss it. Thursday April takes Patrick to his basketball game, and then goes to class. Friday has been a down evening, although this coming Friday is Thomas's Pinewood Derby. Saturday is spent at the 12^th street indoor soccer with games for Patrick and Thomas. Sunday I run Patrick to Snowbasin for snowboard lessons. And repeat.

This last Saturday Patrick had a game at 8:30 AM playing a girls team. Both this team and his are at the top of the league. It was a close match, but the girls won 5-3. The coach was upset about playing a girls team. The girls knocked the boys around (include Patrick getting pushed over twice), but none of the girls were even pushed aside. It's a double standard, but at least the boys had a competitive game and they did make some mistakes.

Thomas's game was at 10 AM. His team lost again, but did score three. I see the same sort of mistakes in his team as in Patrick's. No girls on the other team, though.

Patrick had his Pinewood Derby after Thomas's game. He drew the design on the wood, and I cut it, polished the axles and wheels, lined them up, glued more weight on, put the graphite on, and he swiped the sandpaper over the car a few times. He thought about painting it Saturday morning. He was pretty pleased when it came in first or second every race. After the race he went to a neighbors birthday party.

Rachel went with April to the hospital to work on her science project. She was pretty happy by the response, and seems to be having some fun with it. It was not what April wanted, but she is the one doing it, so I think it's good.

We got the van back last week. The insurance company agreed the transmission problem was due to their repairs, but the transmission place was surprised that most of the issues have gone away. They say they will pay for further repairs if we have problems in the future. I'd like that in writing, though.

End of Entry

Legend of Bill

2009-01-16T09:31:00.001-08:00

David Reddick did a comic called 'The Trek Life' for Startrek.com, and does several others including working on Garfield. He has guests do comics for him on Thursdays, and Kevin Hancock had his put up this week.
http://www.legendofbill.com/

Congrats, Kevin.

Keyboard

2009-01-14T06:38:00.001-08:00

Warriors have no use for USB!
http://tinyurl.com/6wzzff

Since U Been Gone

2009-01-09T12:01:00.001-08:00

The last post was one month ago. The Christmas break was also a break in the kids activities, so it was good for April and me as well.

On December 13th, while driving to the airport to pick up April, a lady in the middle lane tried to break for a slow traffic around an accident on I-15 in Clearfield, spins her car around to the right lane and directly in front of me. The collision was low speed, so fortunately no one was hurt. She had insurance, so no worries there. The left fender of the van was smashed, and the yellow-green liquid pooling under the van told me the radiator was broken. I called April, and she got the toll free number for our insurance company, and I filed the claim. The lady on the phone told me where the van needed to go, and assured me the a case manager would talk to me on Monday. Not so. I called the autobody place, and they had already talked to our insurance company. They would need to subcontract the engine work, but the body work would be done by Friday at the latest. By Wednesday, April called the local office of the insurance company because we had not heard from them. She was reamed because we had taken the van to a shop, and told the adjuster should have been out to see the van before anything was done. She told them we followed what their company rep told us to do that day. One good peice of advice April got was to call the other lady's insurance company and make sure she filed a claim. April did, and yes, they did know about it, it appeared to be thier claimants fault, and they would be happy to reimburse us for a car rental, towing, and other expenses. The receipts where faxed to them, but I haven't seen anything yet.

The van was ready on Friday. April and I picked it up after the shop closed, and I noticed the transmission was not right. We called the adjuster, who called back and told us to take it to whereever we liked to have it looked at. We went to our regular service place, and he told us the transmission fluid did not look good, but he didn't have the tools to do much else. He recommended a place in West Haven. I dropped the van off, and told them it had been in an accident but didn't give any details. The guy told us it would be a day or so before he could get to it. On Wednesday, he called me to asked if I know the radiator had been replaced. Yes. Well, the transmission fluid was almost gone from the van, and there is a hose that would have to have been disconnected for the radiator to be replaced. He thinks the fluild drained out, and was not replaced. He's going to talk to the adjusted about it.

On Monday as well, I was almost finished shoveling the driveway that night and slipped on a patch of ice at the end of the driveway. I landed on the point of my right elbow, and wrenched my shoulder. I am able to raise my arm all the way up once, but not twice. Rachel slipped on the ice at school and cut her leg up. Patrick also slipped on the ice at school and has a big bruise on his left knee. Topping that off, he lost one lens in his glasses. The winter is not going well.

On the bright side, Rachel got her top braces off, and her teeth look great.

End of Entry

Have you ever read Milton, Captain?

2008-12-09T07:04:00.001-08:00

To all of the Trek fans out there, today is the 400th anniversary of John Milton's Paradise Lost. If you don't know from the title, that's the question Khan put to Kirk at the end of TOS's Space Seed.

"It is better to rule in Hell than serve in Heaven." - Lucifer

Sci-Fi's No. 1 Fanboy Dies at 92

2008-12-07T08:15:00.001-08:00

Forrest J Ackerman

I'm not a politician

2008-11-24T14:37:00.001-08:00

Apparently I know too much for the job...
US officials flunk test of American history, economics, civics

Civil Literacy Quiz - You answered 30 out of 33 correctly — 90.91 %

Answers to Your Missed Questions:
Question #28 - "removed"
Question #29 - "removed"
Question #33 - "removed"

Lotta Updates

2008-11-17T13:42:00.001-08:00

Catching up now. The kids got their grades. Everyone did well,
although Patrick was upset because of an A- in English (the rest
were As). He was much happier after getting the Principal's Award for
highest GPA, plus Student of The Month, plus High Honors.

I did the rest of the Engineering scout achievement for Patrick's den.
The first part was done at one of the other kids' house, where they
are putting in a new garage. The boys got to operate a backhoe, and
use some surveying equipement. I did electrical and structural,
which was not as fun as operating heavy equipment. They did get to
build bridges with paper, strong enough to run Hot Wheels cars over.
Electrical did not go quite as planned, but I hope I got some ideas
across. Four more months and he is done with Cub Scouts. He still
does not want to do Boy Scouts, but that may change.

Patrick fainted in school a week ago. He's been having problems with
headaches and dizziness. The doctor thinks it's hypogylcemia, and
suggested a snack mid-morning. He is still having problems, so he
is off to the doctor again. He did the Olympic Development Program
tryouts. He was not happy about it, but I wanted to see how he
measured up. I thought he did well. I doubt he will get picked but
it was useful.

Thomas, who has been struggling with homework, did get high marks in
in most areas. He is a year away from getting A, B, and the like, but
he should do As when it happens. His SAT scores were a little above
average except for vocabulary, where he scored in the bottom 10%.
I'm not sure why, but he may have misread the instructions, or
simply got into a hurry to finish. It's something to keep an eye
on.

Then there is Rachel. Her grades were good, but she is adopting the
typical teenage 'I don't care' attitude. She spends hours doing
homework, then gets 0 credit because she doesn't turn it in. She has
made both her brothers mad because she didn't turn in the lunch menu
twice, so for the last three months they did not get hot lunch (and
won't until January). I pulled her internet access for a few days
because of the homework. April has handed out other punishments,
but she is still apathetic a lot of the time. We have what, 8 more
years of this? She has another week to come up with a science
project. So far all suggestions are met with 'Lame.'

She did put on a father-daughter dinner as a Girl Scout project
with a friend. It was a fair amount of work for them with minimal
help from adults. I thought it went well. She did not get much feedback
so all I have is my opinion.

April has been doing support for PDAs at work. I warned her that
once begun, she would be stuck with it. So far, it seems that I am
right. The up side is that when her laptop power plug broke the
center pin, she was not against trying to take it apart to see
if we could fix it. We were stymied by one screw that seemed to
have no way of being removed.

End of Entry

The new President

2008-11-06T05:36:00.000-08:00

Congratulations to Barack Obama. I enjoyed the speech he gave, no 'we have a mandate from the people' crap. John McCain did a good concession speech, marred by boos and catcalls. I felt embarrassed for the Republicans because that. Show the same class and honor McCain did.

Maytag Repairman

2008-10-24T15:20:00.000-07:00

One Saturday a few weeks ago during a rain/snowstorm, the power went
out. I was in the middle of doing laundry, and when it came back on
I started the dryer. It ran for ten seconds, then the lights flashed
and it stopped. You could start it again, and it would do the same
thing. At this time, we can't afford a $100 charge for someone to
come out, much less the charge for parts and labor. So we did
research on the Internet. The first conclusion was the thermal
fuse. April ordered the $6 part, and we waited a week for it to
arrive. I replaced that last Saturday in an hour (it's
in the back underneath the drum). No joy. More research and a post to
a forum pegged the problem as a faulty control board. April found one
for $89, plus $12 S&H. It arrived yesterday, and I spent 20 minutes
replacing that, and lo, we have a functional dryer again. I was pleased
by how easy the swap is. Six screws to pull the back panel off, and the
4 inch square board just snaps in. The hard part is that the small part
has 8 connectors going to it, three on the front, one each for the sides
and bottom, and two on the top edges.

So my apologies to the lonely Maytag repairman, but I don't need your
services.

Soccer Update

2008-10-24T10:13:00.001-07:00

Soccer Update
The last month has been heavy soccer. I'm talking 6 days a week, I was
taking the boys to games or practice. The school team improved quite
a bit, but never won a game. We played a tournament in Sandy, but were
short players and came in last.

Rachel had to go with me to one of the school game practices, and
had enough fun that she came back for the rest of them. She's pretty
good. I wish she would play on a team.

Patrick and his friend Trey went a few nights from the school game to
comp games. This is because the league realized it was getting dark
very early, and moved the games up from the end of the month. The
comp team finished in fourth place out of nine, and
the games that were lost were only by a goal or two (there were a
couple of exceptions where they played badly and were beat by five
or more, but those teams were not in the top bracket). The last
game was a blowout for us, 9-0. It was pretty obvious after five
minutes when the ball had not been on our side of the field at all.
The second half the coach was trying to get all the kids to score.
Patrick, who didn't score much this year although had a ton of assists,
make a beautiful shot across the goal box and into the corner of the net.

Thomas's team did very well, and he is improving. He did goalie in
the last game, and let the game-winning goal in. I didn't think there
was much he could have done to prevent it short of tackling the kid.
April was a little unhappy with the coach because he threatened to
keep Thomas out when she was caught up at work and didn't get him
to the game until ten minutes before it started. The coach wants
them there thirty minutes to warm up and strategize. I agree with
her, it is not his fault if he is ready to go and has no transportation.

We are done for a few weeks, and I think we need the break. Patrick
is disappointed, but also happy to be home at night.

From John's Blog

2008-10-21T07:16:00.001-07:00

The results are no surprise to me, but I can tell who said what.
<table style="height: 202px; width: 500px; padding: 4px; border: 1px solid black; background: url(http://images.perturb.org/election/flag_background.jpg); color: black;"><tr><td><img src="http://images.perturb.org/election/obama.jpg" alt="Obama" style="border: 1px solid black; margin-right: 5px;" /></td><td><div style="color: black; font-size: 10pt; font-family: sans-serif; line-height: 125%;">You preferred Obama's statements <b>78%</b> of the time<br />You preferred McCain's statements <b>22%</b> of the time<br /><br />Voting purely on the issues you should vote <b>Obama</b><br /><br />Who would <b>you</b> vote for if you voted on the issues?<br /><br />Find out <a href="http://www.perturb.org/election/" style="color: #001491;"><b>now</b></a>!</div></td></tr></table>

RIP Smokey

2008-10-11T10:35:00.000-07:00

Smokey the cat passed away last night. She has been very sick the last couple of weeks, and not eating much at all. I've been trying to hand feed her, but she has trouble swallowing. Yesterday, April found her on the floor randomly batting at the air. She snapped and growled at April, so we left her alone. This morning, she was gone.

Happy 50th NASA!

2008-10-01T12:42:00.001-07:00

The National Aeronauntics and Space Administration has been around for a half century now.

Crushed

2008-09-10T05:43:00.000-07:00

The school game was a mess. Of course, the other team has been playing together all summer, whereas we just started, and I don't think anyone on our team has played 11 v 11 (I know I have not). So we lost 8-0. There are some things to work on, and I need to find formations for that many kids. Rachel said one of her teacher said they were "crushed".

End of Entry

Soccer and scouts

2008-09-09T12:21:00.000-07:00

You knew this was coming. Two of the main subjects here. Thomas is on a competitive team, and Patrick is on a competitive team and the school team. This makes for games and/or practices six days a week. The other little catch: I am coaching the school team. It's the equivalent of a JV team. The kids are in all ranges of ability, which makes for a challenge. Our first game is today against Rowland Hall.

Patrick comp team has been annoying. At this point, we should have played four games, but we only played the second last night. The other games have been rescheduled because players can't make them, even though the schedule has been out for a month. Last spring Patrick got a lecture about not supporting the team because he didn't show for a game when we had less than a day's notice, and I told them he had other commitments. On top of that, the last practice one coach couldn't make because of a family emergency, and the other had to leave halfway into it. I get asked out of the as he is leaving to take over. With no idea what they are supposed to be doing, so I set up a scrimmage. After a half-hour, the parents wanted to call it quits. I agreed, and it ended. One of the new kids walked up to me and said, "That sucked. I hope you never run practice again." I kept my mouth shut, but I am sure I can make his wish come true.

We have not been to scouts in a while, and with training the same time as the meetings, we won't for a while yet. I tried one of the pack
meetings over the summer, and the kids were bored to tears. Patrick does not want to continue, but I told him he should complete the cub scout program, and then we will decide. I do agree that it is not very fun. The book seems a little out of the 1950s sometimes. When I compare the program to Girl Scouts, it lacks a lot. Rachel has done week long camp trips for years now. Patrick did one overnight camp. Rachel went to Savanna. The Cub Scouts are not allowed to take trips. It seems the girls have a lot more freedom and fun than the boys.

The Horror

2008-09-09T12:20:00.003-07:00

Saturday I took Rachel to Newgate Mall to meet with her friends. They went to see a movie, and then hung out there for a few hours. I was there most of the time. It's not easy, since my idea of shopping is go in, get what you came to get, get out. Teenage girls don't do that. I tried to hang back while still keeping an eye on them, and staying out of the conversation about boys. Not what I would consider fun, but all part of the job.

Update for Dani

2008-09-09T12:20:00.001-07:00

I just about ran over Dani and Kevin at Smith's last week. They were headed to see about some problems Kevin is having (there's a list! :).
It sounds like the docs don't think it's cancer, so that is good news indeed. The bad news is they had to put their dog down. I am sorry to hear it, and I know how hard it is.

In a world... now without Don LaFontaine

2008-09-02T20:45:00.000-07:00

The baritone voice that made many a movie trailer, and a GEICO commercial catch your attention has passed away at age 68. Google his name, and you can hear lots of examples that will make you say... 'Yeah, that guy.'

Gustav

2008-09-02T06:59:00.001-07:00

We spent most of the weekend watching news coverage of Hurricane Gustav.
My brother-in-law went to his aunt's house in Baton Rouge, taking my
mother-in-law. They are without power (along with about 800,000 others)
and she is on oxygen which needs electricity. He may end up taking her
to the hospital. He did want to get a portable generator before all this
happened, but she said no. My father-in-law headed to Florida.
So far it's nothing like Katrina from the reports. It's still not good,
but they seem to have learned from Katrina.

NBC Olympics

2008-08-19T15:44:00.001-07:00

I've been watching the Olympics more this year than any other in the
past. Thank goodness for a DVR. I've always heard there were more
events than gymnastics, swimming, and track. This year I did watch
fencing, and I heard the kayaking was good. But I was not the only
one this year to notice.

No Bolt

I guess I will jump over to the BBC's site for better coverage.

School has started

2008-08-19T13:06:00.001-07:00

We went through all the uniforms last week, and found out Rachel has nothing that fits. So I took her down to South Salt Lake to buy a uniform. Apparently I seriously embarrassed her because I asked for help. It won't be the last time, I am sure.

We met the kid's teachers last week as well. That kind of alerts April and I that school is close to starting. Rachel has an established teacher who knows us. Patrick and Thomas both have teachers new to the school. Patrick is content with his, and Thomas is ambivalent. April was not too impressed with Patrick's teacher because she asked what grade Patrick was in. Patrick replied that he was in her class. Later she told April she was happy to have our daughter in her class. I'm concerned with Thomas. He will only do the minimum required of him most of the time. This means April and I need to keep up on what
he is doing.

Rachel's teacher sent home a form that asked what we should have the teacher look for, and what we expected. Rachel is like Thomas in that she will only do as much as expected, but unlike the loud and boisterous Thomas she will attempt to be invisible. I was the same way. One December day in seventh grade I was late to English. Entering the class, the teacher asked what I wanted. I proceed to apologize for being late, and she asked if I was in this class, then checked the roll. After finding my name, she told me to just find my seat. There were a few more similar incidents from middle and high school. Then again, there were a few troublemaker incidents as well. With 30+ students, it's not hard to disappear.

Wrong category

2008-08-13T15:11:00.001-07:00

Google Reader is fun to use. It gives me recommendations base on
what I am currently subscribed to and my location, etc. I've found
some good blogs such as Raymond Chen, Jon Skeet, Switch on the Code
(a site that posts examples of code), and the like. It also picks
up local universities like BYU, U of U, and USU, and personal blogs
(the example that sticks in my mind is Mormon Child Bride).

Today it found Utah Freemasons. I did a preview, and it seems
to be a series of talks. I clicked on an entry, and since I was
at work (shhh...), I get this:

The Websense category "Non-Traditional Religions and Occult and Folklore" is filtered.

I don't think Freemasons fits into any of the three here.

And it begins again...

2008-08-13T14:56:00.001-07:00

This week starts in on the tons to do. So far,
Thomas had soccer practice on Monday, and April
had a school board meeting on Tuesday.

Wednesday Thomas is in the Striker tournament, with
a game at four. Patrick has a soccer practice
at six, and there is a Ticonderoga meeting at seven.

Thursday Thomas's game is at four again, and April
has a Girl Scout service unit meeting at six.

Friday is the fun day. Rachel is going to Audra's
birthday party, April's work has a party at Cherry Hill
starting at twelve, Thomas has a game at six, and
the SOM is at seven.

Thomas might play Saturday, and he and Patrick need
a haircut before school starts on Monday.

Savanna 2008

2008-08-06T18:56:00.000-07:00

April and Rachel flew to Savanna, Georgia on Sunday with the Girl
Scouts. It's the birthplace of the Girl Scouts, if that helps it
to make more sense. The flight over was good, but April said within
ten minutes of getting to the hotel they were headed to the ER
to take care of one girl who split her chin open jumping on the bed.

The next day was a ghost tour. Rachel talked to me about it for
a good ten minutes, which means she enjoyed it. The debate after the
tour was about a picture that was taken, and later showed a
glowing orb that was not there when the picture was taken. Rachel
told me that the hotel they were staying in is supposed to be
haunted.

Cache Valley Cup 2008

2008-08-03T18:53:00.000-07:00

Patrick's soccer team went to the Cache Valley Cup in Logan again
this year. They lost the first game on Wednesday 3-0 (with the first
goal being scored by one of our own team). The outcome was not
unexpected since this is the first time I'd seen all the new
members of the team. They played well, except for getting goals.
There were lots of opportunities, but it seemed to me that on several
fastbreaks the boy would stop to try and line up a shot. By the time
he did, a defender was there to stop it.

There have been a few changes since winning it all last year. The team
lost 4 players including the keeper and forward. Both were really good,
and the forward was incredible. The team has picked up 5 new players,
and several positions were changed. The best part for Patrick is that
he is now the forward about 1/4 of the game, which is what he loves.

The second game on Thursday was about as hard, except that we won 3-1.
The one goal on the other side would cost us a place in the finals, but
that just means I don't have to drive to Logan early Saturday morning.
Patrick got one of the goals, and narrowly missed getting another.
He was upset with me because I didn't see that it was him that
scored. I saw the ball get kicked to the center, but the line judge
blocked my view, and then the ball sailed into the goal. The coach
also told me 'Left foot!'. He noticed during practice a few weeks
ago that Patrick dominate foot is his left, after coaching for more
than a year. Of course, then I get the typical question about whether
he writes left-handed (he is right-handed). I write left-handed, but
bat and throw right-handed, so it's not all that strange to me.

The game on Friday was at 3 PM, so April took Patrick up. It was
a win 12-0, but since we let the other team score yesterday, we
were out of the finals. April did talk with the other team we
played today, and they said this game was just like the rest of the
games they played in the tournament. So it could have been worse.

Star Trek Pet Door

2008-07-29T05:33:00.000-07:00

For $800 your pet can be Captain Kirk....

Thomas had a busy week.

2008-07-26T05:23:00.000-07:00

Thomas was in the Pioneer Cup soccer tournament last week. His team
lost the first two games against the two top teams in the tournament.
The first game was a mess, but the second they showed some promise.
Thomas was in as goalie the second game and the one the next day.
That game ended in a tie. He did very well as goalie, and he
says he likes the position. The coach is not assigning any positions
at this time, but he does like what he sees in Thomas. Several
of the other boys are also very good.

Astro Camp

2008-07-14T14:21:00.001-07:00

Patrick was at Astro Camp in Ogden all last week. The camp was set up in 1991 by a husband and wife, and now they have a number of different courses from one day to week long sleepovers. One camp does a field trip to the Christa McAuliffe Space Education Center.

The kids did simulated shuttle launches, experiments, crafts, and had a trip to ATK where the solid rocket boosters are tested (although I was told all they did was watch a movie). Patrick was initially nervous about going when April dropped him off on Tuesday, but fortunately he had a friend going with him (they were the ones who told us about it). They graduated on Friday afternoon. There was an email sent out that Don Linq, the first Utah astronaut was going to be there for a dedication ceremony on the museum that has his name. I was not looking forward to the speeches and such, but he was a good speaker. His introduction was a little sad in that he was scheduled to walk on the moon for Apollo 20 which was cancelled, scheduled for Skylab but cancelled, and a few other cancelled things. He did get to crew the shuttle Challenger. The awards were handed out, and Patrick's team got the best team award, highest points award, and several others. He personally won the trivia competition, and as we toured afterwards several leads said he was a master of trivia. In the car he said this was the only team of first years to get best team award. It kind of reminded me of Harry Potter.

McCain at the next Star Trek Convention

2008-07-10T16:27:00.001-07:00

The Christian Science Monitor ran this poll:
What you don't know about the presidential candidates

The last point came up on a Google alert:
"Even more amazing was the landslide of 93 percent who said it would be "a hoot!" to hang out with John McCain at a Star Trek convention."

I must be in that other 7%.

Clueless CIO

2008-07-10T10:49:00.000-07:00

Matt Smith pointed to an article on "Why application developers think their CIO is clueless" and to reason #9 specifically. "If you never watched Star Trek then you shouldn't even be a CIO." I had this in mind as I watched Star Trek: The Original Series Remastered (ST:TOSR) episode "Requiem for Methuselah". The clearer picture gave me something I've never noticed before: As Spock details each of the strange things he finds in Flint's home, Kirk has a familiar look of "Stop bugging with this." If a CIO has seen Star Trek, I hope its The Next Generation.

Trying to get to Lagoon

2008-07-09T13:16:00.001-07:00

Sunday we decided to go to Lagoon. This is one of those days where bad things start dibbling downhill like pebbles, and eventually dislodge boulders. April purchased some discount passes from her work, and Rachel already has a season pass. The kids were allowed to invite friends. Thomas and Patrick could not find anyone who was not out of town. This turned out to be a good thing, as Rachel invited three friends. One ended up not coming. April worked that night, and as a result I was a little stressed getting the kids away from the TV to find swimsuits, towels, etc. Hence, I blew up after being told I was going the wrong way in picking up Rachel's friends (despite the fact I had been there a dozen times). After picking her up, I miss the exit to Lagoon from highway 89. Fine, we can go around to Centerville. We get on the I-15 freeway, and stop just short of the exit because of an accident. (I read in the paper later a man was doing 100 MPH, swerved to go around someone, and crashes into the exit sign. As we passed, the car looked really torn up.) Finally, after two hours, we reach Lagoon. Rachel and her friends go their own way, and April takes Patrick on a few rides. Thomas and I float around the river a few times. I take Patrick and Thomas on the Tilt-o-Whirl (the ride spins around). We had some trouble getting it to spin, but after I did, I noticed Thomas turning white. Oops. I guess I spin it a little to fast for his liking.

After leaving, we stopped to get gas. The total was $67. I keep thinking of a co-worker who has to fill up his truck twice. His card will only authorize $75 max for each PIN purchase, and it costs $85. It's a bad sign.

Fourth of July 2008

2008-07-09T11:22:00.001-07:00

This year's Fourth was subdued somewhat. We bought some fireworks on the day itself. Susan and Verne and family came over, and brought my dad's old slides and slide projector. He had this cabinet full of slides from pictures back to about 1959. There are about 20 boxes with 40 slides each. April had a scanner for her job that can handle these, so she volunteered to scan them. It's a major undertaking due to trying to keep the pictures organized by what my dad wrote on the box. We tried to run them through the projector, but many of them became jammed because the cardboard that holds the film is getting soft.

We ate, and then went out to do the fireworks. This year the kids in the neighborhood (mine included) seem to be pyromaniacs. They are intent on lighting small fires. The actual fireworks did not impress them. We watched the Layton city fireworks show from our porch.

Dads Funeral

2008-07-08T13:31:00.001-07:00

My brothers Terry and Verne were in for the funeral with my sisters in law (Kathy and Ann), and Terry's two daughters came in (Wendy and Shelly). Shelly also brought her husband, Josh. This was convenient since he drove them down. Wendy came with her daughter Amanda. Verne's son Peter and daughter Dawn came with him. Dawn also brought her son Evan and new daughter Emma.

The viewing for Dad was Tuesday night. It was good to see a lot of people I had not seen for a long time. Matt and Janet Smith made it, the McKenzies (who had sad news that their daughter, only a year older than me, passed away in February), Fritz and his wife (long time associate of Dad and who I am not even going to try misspelling a last name), Danny, his cleaning lady, a lady from the assisted living place, and many others I am sure I have forgotten to mention.

The funeral was nice, although a little shorter than I had expected, but pretty much to my Dad's wishes. Bonneville Lodge #31 Free and Accepted Masons did the ceremony. I had my two brothers, a nephew Peter, a nephew in law (Josh), a family friend (Danny) and myself as pallbearers. The Bountiful United Church of Christ did a lunch for us.

Later that afternoon Susan, Verne and family, Danny, and I went over to his apartment and cleared out the furniture. Most went to the D.I. It didn't take more than a few hours, and after we went to El Matador. I can remember that Dad was thrilled that a restaurant was being built within walking (or scootering) distance. I explained several times that it served Mexican cuisine, but he didn't seem to understand. We never went there, so this was a first for me.

Angus Barry Madden

2008-06-26T19:00:00.000-07:00

My dad passed away this morning. He took a turn for the worse last night, and at 11:25, breathed his last. I am sure he is now where he has wanted to be for the last 13 years, with my mother who he missed terribly.

Outlaws game

2008-06-25T10:13:00.000-07:00

At the invitation of a friend, I took the boys to an Ogden Outlaws game at St. Joseph High School. They played the secondary Real Salt Lake squad. It was pretty fun, and for $5 we were right on the field. Ok, there is only one small spectator stand.

Dad Update

2008-06-24T23:00:00.000-07:00

April talked to the doctor in charge of my Dad this morning. He has authorized medication to keep my dad sedated as needed. It’s not a good thing as it slows down the antibiotics as well, but my opinion is that they won’t work at all if my dad keeps removing the IV. The doctor is pessimistic about much of a recovery, but after April filled in some history, he was a little less so.

Can’t find my sister to update her.

Bill Gates retires from Microsoft

2008-06-24T22:30:00.000-07:00

Wow, the end of an era. Bill Gates will officially retire from Microsoft at the end of June. I’m sure he maintains a shareholder interest, and he has been out of the day to day running of the company, but now it’s really official.

George Carlin Dies

2008-06-23T22:10:00.000-07:00

I used to listen to his comedy as a teenager. He was Rufus in Bill and Ted, and I recognized his voice in numerous animated shows (last one was the wizard in ‘Happily Never After’).

Dad in the hospital

2008-06-23T22:00:00.000-07:00

The day before I left for Camp Keisel, the assisted living place called telling me he had fallen getting out of bed, and would I authorize them to get medical help for him. I gave them the obvious answer. My sister called that night to yell at me because he had been taken to the ER and why hadn’t I called her. I explained that I didn’t know that’s what they did. When I returned on Saturday, April told me he was in bad shape, and had been moved to the ICU. He can’t swallow, and his lungs are clogged phlegm. The hospital stabilized him, and Sunday he was transfer out of the ICU. I spent the day with him. He is afraid that if he stays in there, he will die. So he spends the day trying to pull out IVs and oxygen tubes, or getting out of bed. I asked if he could have something to calm him down, but the doctor didn’t authorize anything.

Today I found out the nurses had to move him to a room across from the nurses station because he kept trying to get up. I don’t want to say I told you so, but I did.

Scout Camp

2008-06-21T13:00:00.000-07:00

Patrick and I went to Camp Keisel Friday for an overnight camp. It was pretty much the same as a day camp there: canoeing, BB guns, archery, etc. The main difference was that in previous years we were assigned a guide who led the scouts around. This time we were given a list of activities, and told to chose (except for BB guns and archer, where we were assigned times). I think this was because we were Webelos, and each den had its own needs for achievements. After the regular camp was over, we had dinner. This consisted of each scout grabbing a frozen hot dog and putting it on coals that where not nearly hot enough. The camp counselor did say the cooking counts as one of their achievements. After dinner was the Colter relay race (the theme this year is mountain men. Last year was cowboy, and the year before was pirates). That was fun to watch. It started with a boy shooting an arrow to pop a balloon. Our team choice did it with his third and last arrow, which put the team in fourth place. Patrick was assigned to run from the archery range to the front gate. He passed one of the other runners to put them in third place. The front gate had the three man carry. The boys there passed another team to move into second. The next leg was knot tying (this is scouts after all). I was a little concerned with it, because the boy assigned to do it was not really focused. However, he did it in apparently two seconds, before I even had the chance to run down there. This puts us in first. The last task is to light a cotton ball on fire with flint and steel. It took a couple of minutes, but we still finished first. The second place team was another minute behind us.

We sent up the tents after that. When the list of equipment was sent out, it included a tent. All we had at that time was a two room tent which April and I thought would be too big. So she bought a $25 two man bright orange pup tent at Walmart. It was a popular choice. Two others were in our group, and I counted two more in the camp at large. We all bedded down for the night. Aside from the hard ground, I thought it was pretty good. Everyone else was too cold.

Breakfast was good, pancakes and sausage. The next event was a hike. The den chose Oregon Rock, which is a 25 minute climb up about 200 feet. I was happy that I made it without too much strain. We didn’t stay long as there were teenage girls coming up to rappel down the face of the rock. We then headed home.

Downtown Salt Lake City in 4 years

2008-06-19T07:43:00.000-07:00

Looking at all those people, I'd better loose some weight.

Animation of 2011 downtown salt lake (City Creek Center Project)

Download Day 2008

2008-06-17T05:36:00.000-07:00

Set a Guinness World Record
Enjoy a Better Web

Father's Day Dinner

2008-06-16T12:56:00.001-07:00

Stardate 61061.6
My sister Susan invited us over for dinner on Father's day. She brought my Dad over as well. It was a little wierd because he talked about me in the third person at times, and other times seemed to recognize me. He told me that his son Tim had a daughter that looked a lot like my daughter, and he has two sons. He told me he talked to his second son ealier that day, but couldn't remember his name. It's a good thing he does not live on his own anymore. At least there were no complaints about the assisted living place.

End of Entry

Happy Fathers Day 2008

2008-06-15T12:42:00.000-07:00

Rachel can be so creative. She came up with the idea to say Happy Father's Day spelled out in red cups on the lawn. It was a nice surprise. They also gave my a card where Rachel and Patrick recorded a Father's day greeting (Thomas wasn't there).

Team Update

2008-06-11T20:29:00.000-07:00

Well, Patrick’s baseball team lost last night. It was kind of sad, the other team only had players, which gives them an automatic out at first bat, and another on the fourth batter. Some mistakes in the field let them score five runs. Still, I will admit it was fun. Patrick wants to go again next year, and so it looks like I will be coaching again.

coaching update

2008-06-10T05:29:00.000-07:00

The baseball team is doing well. We made through the regular season with 5 wins and 3 losses. The first game of a double elimination tournament was a loss, and we won the second because the other team forfeited because they only had six players and you need a minimum of seven. We still played them just for the fun of it. They did well, and it's a pity they lost like that.

Soccer is over for the moment. Patrick's team has left OFC to become independent. The reason is money; the coaches felt the club was too much for what we were getting. We shall see. They ended the season with one loss which was a forfeit because we wanted to reschedule the game on Memorial Day. The other team agreed, but showed up anyway.

I've also been relieved from coaching Thomas's team, although I don't think the two are related. The last month his team was playing with 4 to 6 players (you need 7 on the field). Both myself and the other coach asked for help, but nothing happened. I think some of the parents complained, and to stop a mass exodus from the club, the head coach stepped in. I don't mind if it means Thomas can be on a successful team.

Going Green

2008-06-03T21:00:00.000-07:00

For the past week I've been taking FrontRunner into Ogden, and then a bus to work. With gas approaching $4 a gallon, combined with Flying J providing an Eco-pass, it saves quite a bit in gas. My car is still three quarters full a week and a half after filling up. It does take an hour to get into work as opposed to twenty minutes driving. Paying $65 to fill the tank makes the longer time worth it.

Almost There

2008-05-23T15:48:00.001-07:00

Stardate 61052.3
It's been a hectic couple of weeks. Thomas made his First Communion last weekend. Saturday was a full day retreat at the church. Normally, the parents just drop the kids off, but this year Mgsnr. Bonnell had shoulder surgery, so Father Mike presided. He insists on parental paticipation. In Thomas's case this was probably good. It went well.

We had a soccer tournament in Kearns that same week dropped on us. Not a bad thing except Patrick had a baseball game the same Monday as one of the games. He choose to do baseball. The soccer team played short (Patrick was not the only one with a conflict), and the coach was furious. I admit to being happy about him choosing baseball considering how frustrated he has been with it. He managed to have some solid hits, and played good in the field. The fact that the coach was mad because he didn't have enough players for one game touched a nerve with me. I've been playing Thomas's team with 4-6 player the whole spring season, so I thought he should feel lucky to have a great team.

End of entr

More Coaching

2008-05-09T16:12:00.001-07:00

I signed Patrick and Thomas up for baseball this year with Ogden Rec. After some weeks, I called in to find out if they were playing, and was told that Thomas's coach had not picked up his roster, and Patrick's team didn't have a coach yet. I found out from Thomas's den leader that the coach they had on the roster had his kids on another team coached by the father of one of Thomas's friends from school. After some more calls, we got Thomas (and all the other kids from school) on the team. They have played two games so far, and done pretty well. It's machine pitch again, and again, Thomas hit well in practice but not during games. He came off the last at-bat of the first game and broke into tears because he was the only one who did not hit the ball. The coach let me borrow his machine to help out, and the second game he managed to hit a few fouls, so he is improving.

I kept calling on Patrick's team, and kept being told he has no coach. At a week before the first game, I gave in and volunteered. I go down to Ogden Rec to pick up the equipment, roster, etc, and the guy tells me this is an established team, but the coach passed away from cancer. Oh, boy. At the first practice, though, they seem like a good group. The previous coach did a good job. Patrick and his friend Trey haven't played in a few years. With Trey you would have a hard time telling. Patrick can field pretty well, but had a lot of trouble batting. We worked with it all weekend, and in the game he hit a pop fly for a run to first (the opposing infield missed the catch). He's still not happy with his batting, so we are still working on it. Trey hit a home run with the bases loaded, so I think Patrick is trying to keep up with that. There are other kids on the team who have trouble batting, so he's not alone.

Soccer goes well for Patrick, as his team pretty much stomps on everyone else. The second game this spring season came with a surprise as my boss showed up. His son is was on the other team, with the same jersey number as Patrick. Interesting coincidence. The kid did well considering he has not played before.

Thomas's team, on the other hand, is struggling. Last game I had four players show up. I need seven to play. Try-outs are in a few weeks, so I am HOPING to get a viable team. Several of Thomas's friends have expressed interest, but only a few have played before.

End of Entry

Debate

2008-04-29T13:09:00.001-07:00

Rachel won all rounds of her debate last week. She is very proud of it. The topic was 'Amelia Earhart: Spy?' Rachel was the position that Amelia was spying for the U.S. when she disappeared.

End of Entry

Boise Performance Cup 2008

2008-04-29T12:15:00.001-07:00

The boys went to Boise a couple of weekends ago. Patrick's team had the goal of winning the championship since they came in second place last year. They had a game at 8 AM Saturday morning, which they won by a goal, and another at 6 PM, which they won by a couple of goals.

The hotel was chosen by a travel company. I get the impression they do business travel more than sports, because the hotel had an outdoor pool which was closed, and no other entertainment. With the large gap between games, it was a little difficult to find something to keep the team entertained. I took six of the kids to a local park for a couple of hours, then back to the hotel to relax.

Sunday was the semi-finals and the championship. The first game was at 10 AM against a team from Twin Falls. It did not start on time because the girls' game before it went into overtime. It was a fairly easy win. We then baked out in the sun until about 5 in the afternoon. We did watch the other semi-final where a team from Salt Lake City won, and part of the game for the other OFC U-10 team.

In the end, for the second year in a row, we go all the way to Boise to play in the championship against a team from Salt Lake City. The outcome was better this year, as we won by a goal.

End of Entry

Pirates Online 'Feature'

2008-04-11T18:45:00.001-07:00

I was playing Disney's Pirates Online Monday, and found an interesting feature. My character went up to Fort Charles, and I leveled up on dagger and noterity at the same time. It didn't show either level up, but as I fought, I noticed that I was not losing health points. I got the 'Groggy' icon, but didn't get sent back to jail. I kept killing guards and such, and took on a level 34 hired gun; hacking away at him for ten minutes. Eventually it corrected itself when I left the fort.

Vs Steam MP

2008-04-09T07:13:00.001-07:00

Stardate 61040.9
Happy Birthday April!

Patrick's team won (6-2) pretty easily against the Steam team in North Layton Junior High Monday. This is the team with the one-armed kid. He's grown quite a bit since the last time we played them. Patrick came close to scoring a couple of goals, and assisted on a couple of them.

End of Entry

Confirmation

2008-04-08T07:07:00.001-07:00

Stardate 61040.8
Friday was Confirmation for a friend's daughter, Vreni (Franny). We had planned on the whole family going down to Salt Lake, but of couse ot does not work out that way. The boys both backed out. April was fine with that provided they made arrangements with friends. Patrick did so immediately, but Thomas dalied until almost too late. A couple of crying jags and he managed to stay across the street. Rachel wanted to go see the confirmation. The plan was the meet the family for dinner and then head to church. Some
Ast minute details that were forgotten threw this out, and I ended up staying home alone.

Saturday was cleaning out the garage, then out to pick up Patrick. A stop by the dump to drop off the junk cleaned from half the garage. April and Patrick went to Blockbusters for a movie.

Sunday up at 8 to go to Mass. Rachel went shopping with her friend Melissa. The afternoon was nice, so I took Leo the dog out to chase the ball. Two throws and he dumps the ball in the corner of the yard; his way of saying I don't want to do this. Ok by me. Patrick wanted to practice catching, so I grabbed a bat and hit the same ball to him. Leo decided a game of keepaway was more to his taste. So I hit the ball, Patrick would catch it, and the dog would run back and forth between us. He was pretty tired the rest of the night.

Rache came home with a new pair of shoes and a shirt that says 'I heart recycling' using the heart symbol and the recycling symbols.

End of Entry

Bogus!!!

2008-04-03T20:45:00.000-07:00

Stardate 61040.3
From TardisCaptain's blog....
There is a remake of Bill and Ted Excellent Adventure. I thought I saw a rumor on this at ScreenRant.com, but I am not sure. Think about it, though, of the movies out this year,how many are sequels or remakes? What would Cecil B. Demille think?

What a bunch of losers.

End of Entry

Pocatello 2008

2008-03-31T12:23:00.000-07:00

Stardate 61033.1
Rachel, Patrick, Thomas, and I went to the Crusader Cup in Pocatello this weekend. Rachel was on the sixth grader girls blue (as opposed to gold) team, and I was one of the coaches. We played two games on Friday and two on Saturday. We lost every one of them. The bright side is that each loss was less of a point spread than the last. Rachel has a very aggressive style of play. There were quite a few times the opposing player would cross half court only to have the ball taken away by Rachel. If I had know that's how she could play, I would have worked on some fast break plays.

The third game the other coach for the team asked the other team coach to take it easy, because they were ahead by 20 in the last part of the fourth quarter and I guess he got a chilly answer. Some of the parents came over and told us they agreed, and the opposing coach apologized after the game. He said he was caught up in the game and was not aware of the score. Not sure I believe that, especially when we found out the ranking is by wins and losses, then by points scored in cases of same win/losses, so it is beneficial to rack up as many as you can.

During the fourth game Rachel had a minor meltdown. It's understandable given the pressure and pace. Both the other coach and I worked to get her calmed down to no avail. I decided to leave her be. Thomas walked over and had her laughing in 30 seconds. It's nice to see the kids can help each other out when they need it. Sometimes all you see is the rivalry.

The boys fourth grade team won all their games. Patrick didn't want to try out, so he just watched. I'm somewhat glad. They played five games in all, and three were won by a single basket at the buzzer. The fourth grade girls team went all the way to the championship, but lost in overtime by 3. (Rachel's friend's sister played, and fouled out in the fourth quarter. Her response when told she fouled out was "I did? Aw, crap.")

Thomas went to the doctor before we left to see if a cast was necessary for his foot. The doctor had him walking (more like limping) around the room, so no cast. By Sunday he was barely limping at all.

End of Entry

Not an Easter Tradition

2008-03-25T12:16:00.001-07:00

Stardate 61032.5
Yesterday Thomas hurt his foot on the trampoline. Today he went to school on the cructhes Patrick used when he sprained he ankle around Easter last year. I told the kids on the way to school that this will not be a tradition. Thomas is going to see the doctor this afternoon. He will miss his indoor game today.

The girls did free throw practice yesterday, and I acted as an opposing player to get them used to blocking. Rachel and her friend audra were pretty good at it. Audra's younger sister did some scrimmages with them and she knows what she is doing. The team is doing good for being thrown together.

End of Entry

Easter 2008

2008-03-24T14:26:00.000-07:00

Stardate 61032.4
Easter this year was uneventful. April, Rachel, and Patrick went to Easter Vigil Mass on Saturday. Sunday I took Thomas to Mass. Being Easter, it was crowded. Thomas asked me during communion when it was going to be our turn. It took about twenty minutes to get through all the people. The rest of the day was spent cooking dinner and playing with the kids. The neighbor boy from across the street spent the night, and they were up late. Tomorrow should be a joy.

End of Entry

Author Arthur C. Clarke dies

2008-03-23T20:38:00.000-07:00

Stardate 61032.3
I wondered back when the tsunami hit Indonesia and Sri Lanka if Arthur Clarke was ok. He was, but he passed away this week.

Account Management

2008-03-18T13:22:00.001-07:00

Stardate 61031.8
I've been spending much of my free (and not so free) time playing Pirates of the carribbean online . When patrick wanted to try it, it had me set up an account as well so I could put controls on his (who he chats with, who he can be friends with, etc). I was 'managing his account'm a phrase I used with April. She now refers to my time on the game with it.

Rachel complains that I run practices too hard, and they need more breaks. I thought they did take at least two breaks during Mondays practice. I did tell the girls I'd start doing 'Olly practice'. All but Rachel wanted to know what that was, so I told them to ask Patrick for details but it refers to his soccer trainer who worked the boys for three hours a night once a week. We have only one more week until the tournement in Pocatello , so I'd like them to work a little harder.

End of Entry

Super Dell Campaign

2008-03-17T11:39:00.001-07:00

Stardate 61031.7
Super Dell runs for office
I can't wait to see his campain ads!

End of Entry

Post no bills

2008-03-14T12:50:00.001-07:00

Stardate 61031.4
Thomas went to his second game of the week Wednesday. He did well the first three quarters of it, then just stood around. On the way home he complained that his legs hurt. After dinner he went into his room, and was asleep within a minute. Scouts was missed again, somewhat to my relief. Thomas has fun, but the den leaders do most everything, so I just sit around.

Thursday was dinner with Dad for the first time in a couple of weeks. With April being out of town and kids sick, I just could get down there. He is doing well.

No secret project this week.

End of Entry

Code Buddy

2008-03-14T05:22:00.000-07:00

Matt at Software Ninja (not sure when the name changed, it's still in my Google Reader as Matthew on Software) had a good piece on Code Buddies. I might grab a copy and present it to the PTB at Flying J.

Soccer and Scouts

2008-03-12T12:01:00.000-07:00

Stardate 61031.2
Thomas has another indoor game yesterday, although I was not able to go April got to see it. She has not seen many of his games, and apparently he did not do well in this one. She said he mainly stood around, and made quite a few mistakes. I know he is at the bottom as far as skill level for the team, but he usually tries hard. He could benefit from some individual training, but the time to do that is hard to come by. April is questioning if he is on the right team, and I am as well. He enjoys playing, though, and there is not much we can change at the moment.

Patrick had cub scouts. He painted a design on a fish, and then transfered it to a t-shirt. It all went quickly and we got done with scout early.

Grades should be out soon. I'm interested in Rachels' because she has been struggling lately.

End of Entry

Internet Explorer 8 proposed 'features'

2008-03-11T15:12:00.001-07:00

#1: "This server is using a flavor of Unix/Linux therefore I cannot render the page. Besides you don't want to see a page run by a machine with such an inferior os anyway."

#2: "This page is using a .Net class that we deprecated because Bill Gates slipped on a banana peal, therefore I cannot render the page."

# 3: "You are trying to access your gmail account, and not your 100% secure, never ever been hacked, hotmail account. You do have a hotmail account, don't you? Therefore I cannot render the page."

#4: "You are trying to access your bank account to verify your balance, and not downloading the information straight into Microsoft Money. Therefore I cannot render the page."

#5: "You own a Mac!!!! pbbbbtttt Therefore I cannot render the page."

#6: "You are using a flavor of Linux. Therefore I can only render pages that include gifs of penguins."

#7: "You have not prayed to Bill Gates, and or, you have not placed a curse on Steve Jobs, today. Therefore I cannot render the page."

#8: "You have not installed Vista, therefore I cannot render this page."

#9: "You have installed Vista, therefore I cannot render this page."

#10: "You have installed the latest service pack, which will cause errors on this page."

#11: "You are attempting to access a site with anti-Microsoft content, you will be redirected to the nearest pro-MS site."

#12: "Based on our analysis of your tax forms last year, your year to date income, and a randomly selected number; you are behind quota in donations to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. Access to the Internet is
denied."

#13: "Bill Gates is not number one on Forbes list of the richest people in the world, your internet access is disabled."

#14: "You have Firefox installed. Ouch he bit me, the rabid animal. Therefore I cannot render this page."

#15: "Open Office detected. Therefore I cannot render this page and we are
sending ninjas to your home."

#16: "Today is a good day to crash!!"

Feel free to add suggestions.

Basketball practice

2008-03-11T12:19:00.000-07:00

Monday's practice went well. The girls are beyond the basics of dribbling and shooting, so know it's the much harder task of plays and strategy. It's a little more serious for them, but they still seem to enjoy it.

The kids had the day off of school (not sure why). They found some cake mix and asked me if they could make a cake. They added green food coloring, but it turned out good to eat. As one of his scout achievement Thomas needs to help prepare food, so a I am counting this. The down side is that Rachel got a burn on the outside base of her thumb. Nothing that needed a doctor, but it was a half inch blister.

There was a doctor visit, although it was to remove Thomas' stitches. We went to our family doc, and in his opinion stitches were not needed except to leave a smaller scar. The woun was on the top of his head and is covered by hair so I can't see how that would be a factor.

End of Entry

Sickness again

2008-03-10T12:10:00.001-07:00

Stardate 61031.0
Patrick was sick Thursday and Friday. Rachel had it about two weeks ago, and we assume Thomas will in two weeks. Fever, dry heaves, tired, all the common symtoms . He's doing better today.

Rachel's first basketball practice was Friday . The girls did well, except for some fits of giggling.

Thomas did First Confession Saturday morning. He was understandably nervous about it, and his sister did not help. He was much better after he got there and joined his class. I have to commend the teacher for doing a lot to keep him calm, as well as the rest of the kids. The worst part of it was that he was next to last, so it took a while.

End of Entry

Dungeons and Dragons Creator Dies

2008-03-06T05:34:00.000-08:00

Don't keep up with Google Reader for a few days, and then find this on Carl's blog:
Gary Gygax, 'Father of D&D,' Dies at 69 (Ok, more or less. The one on Carl's linked to SlashDot, but more news outlets are picking it up.)
I played the original a lot as a kid. I don't have the time to put into it anymore, but it still would be fun. Many fond memories of looking through Monster Manuals, Player Guides, multi-sided dice.

Thanks, Gary. You have progressed to the next level.

Thomas with stitches

2008-03-04T12:18:00.000-08:00

Stardate 61030.4
Saturday started out simple enough. I was doing laundry and cleaning (plus sneaking onto Pirates of the Carribbean Online in between loads), and the boys were taking advantage of the relative warmth by playing on the trampoline. I was planning on heading outside to do a few thing when Thomas came in and said "Daddy, I need help." It should have clued me in that he never calls me Daddy anymore, but the blood streaming down his face was a better indication. I checked the top of his head and found a quarter inch cut. There was no telling how deep it was, so I announced that we were heading to the emergency room. I called April along the way, and she got us into Tanner Clinic instead. One of the advantages of her working at the hospital is she can see how busy the ER is. Thomas ended up about an hour later with two stitches. He panicked when the doctor told him he needed them, but on the way home he said it wasn't too bad.

At dinner April and I asked what happened. The boys were shooting hoops on the trampoline, blocking each other when Thomas leapt up and smashed his head. Patrick saw the blood, and told him to find me (we harassed Patrick for not escorting Thomas, but he did show good skill in seeing it and knowing what to do). Patrick also said Thomas stopped to put his shoes back on, and he told Thomas not to bother. My guess is this is when the blood started to run done his face.

So the first injury requiring stitches. Not too bad. I worked with a guy who was in the ER about every week with his youngest son, so I consider myself lucky.

End of Entry

Thomas's party

2008-03-03T12:26:00.001-08:00

Friday I got a call from St. Joseph Elementary; it was Rachel who wanted know if she could play on the basketball team and go to Pocatello at the end of March. I ok'ed it. A few hours later I get another call from the PE teacher; can I help coach? Ok. I'm not sure it's a good idea yet, but it should be fun.

Thomas had his party at the Lazer Tag in Sunset. Seven eight-year-old plus Patrick, Rachel, and her friend Audra. Everyone had a good time. The eight-year-olds ran around in a pack, so it was easy to pick them all off. Surprisingly, the girls had fun. Patrick was pleased to have out-scored me in the third game.

End of Entry

Thomas's birthday

2008-03-03T12:15:00.000-08:00

Stardate 61030.3
Patrick's team lost thier game Thursday. Part of the problem is the keeper doesn't want the position anymore. Patrick was black carded (two minutes out of the game) at the end for slamming another player into the wall. It was not intentional, he was keeping his eyes on the ball and ran into the kid. I think the ref knew that, but the rules are clear.

Thomas had dinner at Golden Corral, and then home to open his presents. He had been asking everyone he could think of if they knew where his mom hid them, incuding his teacher. April got him the same cake that he wanted to get at the cub scout aution, so he had a good birthday.

End of Entry

Blue and Gold #2

2008-02-29T11:32:00.001-08:00

Stardate 61022.9
Thomas had his pack Blue and Gold banquet on Wednesday. It was much more sedate than Patricks. Different pack, differnt way of doing things. It's a pot-luck instead of buying the goods, which makes for a bigger variety of food. Patrick and Rachel did not want to go, but I made them anyway. It sometimes seems to me that this pack gets the short end of our attention. Last week they went to the state capital. All of our family initially said they wanted to go, but only Thomas and I went. Rachel started up a fever again, so I understand, and April stayed home with her. Anyway, the banquet was fun, and not very long.

End of Entry

Beggars can't be choosers

2008-02-27T14:23:00.001-08:00

Interesting bit on KUER yesterday. They are covering the state legislator session. The UTA audit was discussed, where they found that UTA executives are getting paid more than contemporaries in other cities, ridership is declining on buses and TRAX, etc. UTA responded by saying that no one was looking at the positive points; such as how much Federal money they brought in. IMHO, being good at begging and panhandling is not much of a positive.

End of Entry

Blue and Gold #1

2008-02-27T12:19:00.001-08:00

Patrick 's Cub Scout Blue and Gold banquet was last night. The pack does its' fundraiser at the same time. The fundraiser is a cake auction, with the cakes being donoted by the families. Last year we did the Pirate cake, and this year we did a campfire. We always do a test run with making the cake to see how it turns out. The cake tasted great, and looked good to boot. It only went for $75, though. Thomas really wanted one cake, but I had to stop him as the bidding climbed over $100. He cried the rest of the evening because he didn't get it.

Thomas had his third indoor soccer game just before the banquet. The team lost 4-10, which is a major improvement over the first game where the lost 0-25, and the second loss 1-10.

End of Entry

Pinewood derby #2

2008-02-26T12:07:00.000-08:00

A few weeks back, Thomas did his Pinewood derby . It was a slightly larger group than Patrick 's. He could not come up with a design for his car, so I looked up the simplest designs on the web, and had him pick one. He choose a Wii (pronounced 'weee') controller. Pretty easy since it's just a block. He painted it white and used clay for the buttons. I was surprised that it was still a half an ounce light. He won about half the races, and came in second the rest.

End of entry

My Name Is Inigo Montoya

2008-02-24T18:01:00.000-08:00

You killed my father, Prepare to die!

Run Away!

2008-02-24T17:59:00.000-08:00

Monty Python's Trojan Rabbit Toy

Planning ahead

2008-02-08T19:34:00.000-08:00

STAR TREK ™ Line of Urns and Caskets

Pinewood Derby #1

2008-01-29T06:24:00.001-08:00

Patrick had his scout pinewood derby on Saturday . One of the parents whose boy won the last two years in a row shared some of his secrets. Patrick 's car placed third twice, second once, and first once. The first place was because his was the only car racing. It got a cheer from everyone watching.

Rachel is almost done gathering data for her science project. She is studying whether different types of music affect our dog Leo's appetite. I've been helping by feeding him on days when she was away. I have not looked at any of the data yet, so I can't say if it has or not. April noticed a Pavlov effect as he ran over to his bowl when Patrick played some songs.

Thomas started First Communion classes at the start of the month. Rachel and Patrick had to go the full year, but there is a new director who didn't think that was necessary. I think he is right, because despite missing half the class, Thomas knows all the prayers except one (Act of Contrition), and the other kids are still working on most of the prayers. It's still a new concept, and we get notices and calls about how Thomas has missed half the class.

Patrick's birthday

2008-01-16T05:41:00.000-08:00

As I made out invitations to Patrick's birthday party, I was thinking of an ad I hear in the mornings where a woman complains that everyone communicates by email, but she doesn't own a computer. Filling out each one, I realize why so many use email over a snail mail: I'd be writing the invitation once, check for mistakes, then send everyone on the list a copy. The written version has me do the same process , and potentially make a mistakes on each one, over and over. There are only ten, so it's not difficult. Conversely, the same would not apply to thank you notes, where you want personalize each one.

The party was fun. We took the kids to Speed Street in Layton, an indoor go-cart track. You do a qualify run, and the top five get to race together. Patrick was in the top five, of course, and finished first. The surprise was that Thomas was also in the top five, beating out a lot of the older kids. He didn't want to race again, though.

End of Entry

What I got for christmas

2007-12-31T06:33:00.000-08:00

I was sick for most of the week (still coughing a lot). April picked this up in Houston.

Futsal

2007-12-28T18:33:00.000-08:00

Patrick started playing in a futsal league last Friday. The game is like soccer, but played on a hard floor. Unlike indoor soccer, there is out of bounds, and the player kicks it back in bounds. The field is small, so the games are 5 v. 5. the team,s first game was against a girls team. I could tell the boys were a little rusty. the game ended in a tie. the girls team played better. but the boys made up for it with more aggressive play. He has games every Friday night through the end of Feb.

End Of Entry

E-license

2007-12-16T06:44:00.000-08:00

Stardate 61121.6
I took an coaching class to get an e-license about a week ago. it was a good course, and I learned a lot, like focusing on one topic for a practice session . That's not to say you only do one thing, like dribbling, for a session. that would bore most players, and you'd completely lose a kid's attention. A session can include all the elements of the game, but you only correct on the element the session is focused on. if the session focus is dribbling, and a kid makes mistakes with shooting. You let it pass. it makes sense to me.

Other concepts were to make the start of the session simple. maybe just moving in a certain way. Then make it a little more complicated by adding a ball. Then add another player, then groups of players.

We had two instructors. the first one was full of information and communicated it well. The second was probably as knowledgeable, but tended to wander into talking about professional players. He also seems to end every other sentence with 'does that make sense?'

The E does not stand for electronic (like e-mail) in this case. It's a level, and the next level up is D, and then C, and so on.

End Of Entry

It's people like me who make the world complex

2007-12-11T05:41:00.000-08:00

Stardate 61121.1
Jeff Atwood posted a while ago about microwave controls being too complicated (A Lesson in Control Simplicity). Basically, he prefers the old knob to the digital pad. I added a comment that I liked the digital design, and I cook with mine. Several replies to that comment stated I was one of those who made it hard for the rest of world. Thinking about it, I supposed there is some truth to that. I enjoy figuring out how to work things. I have a couple of universal remotes. I fit into scott adams (of dilbert) model of the guy who looks at a remote and wonders if he can make it do other things. you known, like mute the kids or better yet the cat, open the door when the dog wants out, etc. I was trying to find a wi-fi enabled lawn sprinkler controller (no luck).

At least a microwave with a digital interface is consistent. you have number buttons and you enter time in minutes and seconds. the start button takes a second or ten to find. the other 'preset' button can be ignored. these were added by marketdriods to try and get an edge on the competition.

Take the controls on a vehicle. the steering wheel pedals, and speedometer are all pretty much in the same place . but on my van, the light switch is where the wiper controls are on the car, so I am constantly turning on the wipers in the car when I want headlights.

I've come to the conclusion long ago that no matter how simple or complex the controls, most people will find fault with some or all of it. in star trek the next generation Picard could just say tea, Earl Grey, hot, and he would get exactly what he wanted(assuming no plot device to mess it up). he never specifies how hot, which is an ambiguous amount. i sometimes imagine he clicked some sort of 'remember my preference on this ship' box. even then, it would not satisfy all the time. perfection is unobtainable because human beings are so variable . at any one moment you could crave a particular food or just anything to fill the stomach.

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Up to now

2007-12-06T05:26:00.000-08:00

Stardate 61120.6
Events of the past month:

Rachel had a dog 'follow' her home (Patrick told me she carried it). It was a Pekingese mix with a collar, but no tags and no chip. Male, but not neutered. We kept it about two weeks, looking in the lost and found in the paper, and for any notice from the owner. I took it to Animal Control. I hope someone picked it up. It was a nice dog.

Halloween: Why is it I am in the neighborhood that doesn't like the idea of trick or treat? They did go all out to make sure I knew about trunk or treat. But as I was driving home, I saw plenty of kids out. It was one of my favorite holidays, but the neighborhood killed it. Maybe next year I'll put out the Christmas lights on October 31st. The stores do.

Secret weight loss tip: For the month of October I would get on the scale and get the same number: 216. The first week in November it wanted the battery replaced. I did that, and then got on. 200 lbs. 16 lbs lost in 60 seconds. Not bad. Maybe I could get on Oprah?

My sister and I moved my Dad to an assisted living facility. So far, he's ok with it.

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