Stuff happens...

Lots of thing have happened since my last post.

I have started collecting first editions of books (Not just any books, but books that I really enjoyed reading and and have a historical aspect to them). Ok, I admit it, there are a few books that I have that are strictly for fun. I suppose, a big stipulation for whether I add a book to my collection is if I want to ensure that it will always be around for me and my children should something happen to eliminate my e-book library.(that's a long sentence) Some of the titles I have are Micheal Vey, Killing Lincoln and Being George Washington.

I have also discovered the wonderful world of free podcasts on iTunes. Between the podcasts and my nearly 10gb of music, I never have to stream audio from the web. (Well, almost never - I still get my favorite radio personalities streaming)

My wife was jealous that I am able to text T's iPod. So with the arrival of her laptop I reintroduced her to Skype. (That's right reintroduced, the first time she didn't care one wit about it and probably doesn't even remember about it) So now from her lap top the video conferencing has begun.

For christmas, I thought it would be cool of L and I were to get Nerf guns. Then we could, well, shoot each other. I soon discovered that L really just wanted to shoot the windows and couldn't cock the gun. He also laid claim to the gun that was given to me. I still haven't been able to play with it.

Lastly, I went looking for a new home for my blog. My only criteria was that it do exactly the same thing that blogger does. Impossible! I soon found out that no one compares to google. In fact google offers a lot of great products that have no match. (The things they get right are usually pretty good, and when they get it wrong it's really wrong - example their involvement in the egyptian revolution recently, that was a real blunder; and Android OS as bad as Windows Vista) ;-)

New Phone...for the wife...

Its official, my wide had joined the smart phone community (not that she had a choice, really).  She would have been fine with another choice if one were available.  The one she decided on said a data plan was required and since she doesn't use the internet we chose the cheapest option $10 per month.  We were very surprised to find out that the tag said one thing while reality read something else entirely. No Web plan was needed to complete the transaction, so we didn't chose one. In the settings was a clear way to turn off data on cellular networks, so we did. That means, for those that want a new phone or a used one that has wifi calling we have a basic level phone available (hint, hint Michelle) or we could get you that upgrade to the same phone and give out to you when we see you next.  Is kind of neat, has a full slide out keyboard, Android OS and is only 97 cents.

In other news I am currently reading Killing Lincoln by Bill O'riely, great book, not your standard history book.  It was written in storybook format, making out more like reading a novel than regurgitated history. It is written in the present tense (nothing has happened in the past or the future its all happening right now) the next book on my list is coming out today titled Being George Washington, after that The Snow Angel.

What the hey...

Has the Occupy movement come to Queen Creek?

At every intersection where the streets and railroads meet are groups of people occupying the tracks. The children are running, playing, sitting and in some cases laying down on them. Others are SHOOTING the children that are playing on the tracks with cameras! (Got you! Admit it at first you were horrified!)

Turns out it was this:

Union Pacific Steam Engine #844

People were just standing around looking and waiting for it.  Click here for more info on the train.

In other news...

Turns out that the zombie costume I got from my mom's Halloween stash was perfect. (Sorry no picture)  I had not dressed up for Halloween in years. That's right I dressed up and went trick or treating with my kids. I got almost as many compliments on my costume as Sadie did (our collie, and yes she was in costume too, she went out as Lassie) The first time I donned the scary costume L recognized it as me because he saw me put the mask on. As soon as it was on he said, "Scary, rrroarr!!!" Eventually he started to scare himself and didn't want me to wear the costume anymore. Naturally I was uncertain if I would be able to wear the costume for Halloween a few months later, lucky for me he had no problems with it.

Now in response to all the thousands of emails I received regarding the month long silence on this blog.  I ask you all to reread the heading at the top of the page it clearly says I will forget I have a blog. ;-p

Fun choice!

You know its been a while since you've done maintenance on you car, when you take it in for one problem (that's bad enough on its own) and they find something more severe and more costly. The choices were replace the catalytic converter (which is what I took it in for)  Or replace the bearings on the front (both of them were on the verge of failure). So being that driving would the threat of tires falling off, won out.  I got the bearings replaced. The loud exhaust problem will have to just wait a while. Sorry Canada the noise will continue.

Books I am reading....(or trying really hard to)

The Red Pyramid is very dificult to get into.  The narrator constantly switches from one person to another, back and forth, making it very difficult to remember who is telling the story.  The overall storyline appealed to me mainly because I like mythology and bringing history to life in a modern setting. Unfortunately for Rick Riordon, he missed the mark for me I have been struggling to read this book for about three weeks (seriously I am not even half way through it yet) I will finish it eventually, only because I paid for the book.  The last time I was this disinterested on a book it sat on my bookshelf for years before I finally was able to pick it up and read it (in case you were curious it was a Star Trek book named Probe). Next up Killing Lincoln. This book sounds interesting it is a history book written in story form about the assassination of Abraham Lincoln.

The rumors of the iPhone coming to T-Mobile seem to be wrong.  So it is still out of my reach for a long, long while. However, iOS 5 will be released on the 12th which will greatly expand The use of my iPad (PC free, ay last)

The original argument...Katy Perry fail...Roku...

I have put my leisure reading on hold so I can read selections from the Federalist Papers.  (Just a little light reading)  Lucky for me someone had the brilliant idea of translating them into today's common language.  He had originally translated all of them, but when putting the book together it was decided to only include what was most relavant to today. (As we have already adopted the constitution)  While still easier to read and understand, it still presents itself as something needing to be read and pondered multiple times. (Kinda like Scripture, just too get the full meaning of them. If you think about it, the papers are kind of the Scriptures of how our Constitution was established)  As you may know, I hate reading and watching anything more than once. The mystery and excitement of the first experience is never the same on subsequent visits. (I have found that there is an exception to this, for me, if enough time has gone by, say 20 years, then I have no problem and it's almost as if it were the first time)  

Katy Perry's fail...

You may have heard that Katy wanted us to pray for Israel.  (That is not the fail)  She received quite a backlash of resentment for her tweet. (Wait for it, here it comes...) Katy recanted quickly. (And FAIL!)

Just a few tips for those, like Katy, who find themselves in the public spot light:

1-- You can't please everyone (in this case the palestines)

2-- Understand what you say and be prepared to back it up and stand up for it or don't say it.

Roku....

The little miracle that transforms old out dated televisions, like mine, into an internet app supported (apps like you get on any blu ray player or HD TV) power houses.

I recently got 2 of them. (because 1 is never enough)  I have been accused of hogging the computer and I don't think I get to use it often enough. The computer has become my TV, everything I like to watch is on either Netflix or Hulu. (And now GBTV)  I still need to get Hulu plus to move the majority of my TV experience back to the actual TV, anyone want to go halves? Or I give you access to either GBTV or netfilx (for Roku or TV apps only, don't want any accidental account changes)

And now, because I have thought about the meaning of my words, pray for Israel and stand with them, for we are all of Abraham.

3 books and an Orchestra...

Sounds like the beginning of a joke ; )

First up the latest Shatner book (published in 2007) was a bust. I enjoyed the story after I quickly realized that it wasn't going to be historically accurate in an any way. Shatner went off generally accepted trek history and the one he himself used in all his previous Trek books. I guess it was a bad enough response that the promised sequal will never see the light of day.

'Michael Vey' was very good read it in just a day and a half. Had a hard time putting it down. The story flowed extremely well, moving forward and building toward climax with irresistibly.  Story centers on a high-school boy who is as awkward as ever. He finds that he is a truly remarkable person.  The plot, a multi-billion dollar medical company makes a machine that will replace MRI and when it is tested fpe the first time it has a disturbing effect on the babies in the hospital and the machine is taken out of use. Now many years later the company is looking for the kids that were effected to try to make more of them. HIGHLY recommended!

Last book Q&A.  Ever wonder why Q tormented the crew of the Enterprise? This book takes you to the Q Continuum for a behind the scenes look. If you don't mind useless banter between the characters and pointless background information on characters only seen twice in the entire book (and for that matter some of the new bridge crew of the Enterprise) its a decent read. I found myself skipping large chunks of useless material in the beginning toward the end alot of the banter and background info was gone (thankfully, I nearly put it down because of it)

Now what does an Orchestra have to do with anything?

T, our 4th grader, came home from school very excited. Now that she is in the 4th grade she has the opportunity to join the school Orchestra.  She almost immediately chose the violin as her instrument.  We explained thatif she joined the orchestra she would have additional homework to go along with membership, it would also be a commitment for the entire school year, no quitting allowed (school rule not ours).  She of course said that was alright.

So that meant we needed to go to school tonight and get her signed up along with renting a violin. (Thanks to the rain, a trip that should have taken an hour and a half took three hours. Roads were closed do to flooding and a microburst taking out power lines)

A very excited T, couldn't wait to get home and try out the violin.

Reminds me of me. When I was in 3rd or 4th grade I too joined an orchestra.  I wanted to have the violin badly, unfortunately, there were not enough to go around and I got stuck with the viola. I was upset, and barely put forth any effort. When it came time for our first concert I was in no way prepared, I couldn't read the music or figure out where to put my fingers.  I got put next to a violin player and I protested the placement to deaf ears.  So I did what I do best, I faked it. I sat there and pretended that I knew what I was doing (probably didn't fool anyone, cause when I asked to be removed from the orchestra there was little to no objection)

Ahh, the memories that kids dredge up! :)

Too much stuff...

....has happened since my last post.

We (I took the wife and kids) went camping near flagstaff.  It was a beautiful weekend with sunshining and rain falling (rain falling while we were sleeping).  We visited with my sister, who made us lunch and lent us their card table. We played in the very dirty and rocky, lake mary. Silly us, forgot the games and a few other small things so we made a trip to walmart. (Yes they have one in the woods).  The campsite wasn't a very private one, I could throw (and did) a rock and hit my neighbors in either direction.  Its been decided next time we do what's become known as "Isaac and Julie" camping (or as others are familiar, trail camping). What we did this time is affectionately being called trailer park camping.

Since my last post I have cut out some of the shows I watch on hulu and have read at least 3 books written by William Shatner.  While they were a 3 part series, he built the storyline as an extension of his previous books (so someone who picks up the series and hadn't read them would say, "Wait! When did captain Kirk get married and have a kid?") I have just begun another Shatner novel this one takes place at the very beginning of Kirk's academy days. It was published in 2007 so it will not be the same as the trek movie experience.

It would seem that K is still deathly affraid of bugs. So much so that a teasing sibling could mention that they se a bug in her bed and she will refuse to go to sleep in her bed or anyone else's, becoming terrified that they are crawling on her and becoming very touch sensitive. This can last for days.

Lastly, I am going to begin ditching Android OS and start switching to IOS instead.  The more I use Android the more I notice ads everywhere on my phone. They are in my built-in GPS app and other Google software. I also don't like the quality of the apps that are available for the Android in general. And with the advent of IOS 5 alot of the features I have come to expect in a smart device will be added. To kick off the apple fest, I will be getting an ipad (in a few months, got to save, I mean have you seen the price tag?) Then when Iphone comes to my provider or I save $700 to purchase one (maybe years down the line) I will get one.  Still deciding on the idea of an Imac verses windows, but the new pricing structure for os upgrades and new features in lion really pushes me toward Mac.

Well its time to make the doughnuts... ;-)

Independence Day....

Yes, we celebrated the 4th of July (Also known as fireworks day)  The first time T was presented a sparkler she ran off screaming, "I don't want to hold fire!" Last night she was much more calm about it and couldn't wait to do it. 

While I got the big fireworks open, I gave each child a box of snaps (they blew through those way too fast).  Then we did small, novelty noise makers (pull the string and POP) and a tank -- light it from the back and sparks fly out its back end, then it shoots out fire balls out the front, ending with a fire on the front of the tank. Then the fountains (start small and work our way to the big one). D, K, and L loved the whole show, while fire girl T hung back a little further away. 

The big one....

Yes after all the small ones were done I got out our big fountain. It promised a firework show like what you see in the sky only smaller and close to the ground lasting for 95 seconds. I placed it in the middle of the street.  It started out a little bigger than the others then had a huge climax sending T running inside crying (fire balls shooting into our driveway and the neighbors front yard). Definately bigger than I thought it would be. Once T was inside, I here from the doorway, "Bring L inside!" 

I had wanted a really big fountain to finish off our little show, kinda glad I didn't get one, wouldn't want to start a fire. ;-P

Camping......

Its official we are going camping. In one week we will be hitting the trails of Flagstaff where we will spend two glorious nights and 3 fun filled days tromping around the woods.

It has been years since either the wife or I have been in the great out doors.  Or is it outdoors? Our children have been depraved and we are looking at fixing that.

If they were older we would go hiking and set up our tents along the trail plus I want to ease them into this camping thing (which means toilets that flush).  Maybe in a year we will look at the other form of camping (which means dig your own toilet).

In other news....

My nook color sold and I down graded to the new nook. It is an e-ink so no lights (it was also very easy to hack, so now I can run email and the kindle app, for all those books that aren't available from Barnes and Noble)

Sometimes Simpler is Better....

After using my nook color for all kinds of things (reading included) I have decided that the features are too many and become distracting.  I find myself surfing the web or watching a video during what used to be reading time. so i am selling my beloved nook color and getting a really limited nook.

Click here for e-bay posting

I have chosen the new nook it is solely an e book reader (no bells and whistles).  The e-ink display is more paper like and easier on the eyes. The battery will last up to 2 months with the WiFi turned off or 3 weeks with it on.

So all you readers out there please by my Nook color so I can down grade please.  ;-P

FIRE...DVR aka replaytv...TOYS...

Preface: Do to the confusion that has come upon some of you readers (namely me) concerning the names of my children and me not posting names but referring to them by general terms I hereby give notice that I will be naming my children with pseudonyms and not their actual names. T is the oldest followed by D, K comes next and L is last. So this should clear up how many children I have (or the ones I love enough to blog about)

FIRE!!!

We sent D to vacation for a week with my wife's cousin way down south at the boarder of Mexico (well close anyway, Sierra Vista). All was well until D went camping, or maybe it was hiking, and started what is now known as the Monument Fire (it could have been her, I mean she really likes sparklers).  Her trip was cut short (by one day) because the fire had moved on close enough the you could see it and the firefighters working to put out the flames. The smoke was so bad the turning on the a/c would bring it into the house.

Replaytv the DVR of the future from the past...

Back before anyone knew what a TiVo was, there was something called replaytv. It had so many advanced features its a wonder how TiVo ran them out of business. Some of the included features were: networkable -- if you have more than one you can watch something from the other. In the recorded shows you can setup your own sections for the shows to display in ie. I have my own section with the shows I watch and my wife has hers we never have look through another's shows to find what we want. Set up your dvr to record online from myreplaytv.com (I never use this feature but its cool no one else had that).

As time went on replaytv sold its technology to directv. Directv doesn't include any of the neat features except the remote scheduling and multi-room setup (with a few tweaks). It was about this time replaytv was out of business and the handling of our set top boxes was given to a third party.  They are no longer going to service our boxes, they will turn into basic VCRs with no TV guide built in manual recording only.

Oh no now what do we do?!

Having already decided against DVRs put out by cable and satellite providers (because ours is so much cooler) I searched them out anyway. Uhg?! When did TV get to be so expensive? We don't have high definition TVs or plan on getting them anytime soon. 

I began searching the web for hacking the replaytv found quite the following with that. Turns out this problem was foreseen by a few and and been prepared for years ago.  Had I only known I wouldn't have done this sooner.  Just download a small program and pay an annual fee of $20 to a separate group for the tv listings. The program acts as a server that intercepts the replaytv as it is reaching out to get the new TV guide information, then gives it the info instead. Nice! Problem solved and a whole slew of new features were unlocked for me I can now download the recorded shows to my computer and burn them to DVD.

TOYS...

Something cute and funny to end it (if you are still reading then this is for you, if not, you will never know why I put TOYS in the heading) .

While the wife and T were off getting D (from the fire), I took the remaining children, K & L,  to McDonald's. While there, L saw a kid with a Buzz Lightyear and Woody doll his immediate response while point was, "Mine!"  I told him that those weren't his, he got a little sad and said, "why?"

"Because yours are at home you didn't bring them, those are his." 

Amazingly after the second time though he stopped asking and pointing.

3G...

I am in trouble now... T-Mobile has installed 3G in Florence.  Up til now all I had was the edge network, very slow and good for casual browsing.  Now with 3G I can stream video and such.  Makes me wish GBTV was already here, but alas I must wait until 9.12.

The funny thing about the new 3G is I get great reception while on the highway but the moment I turn into our subdivision I loose signal lucky to pick up the edge network.  So, since I know I have many followers at T-Mobile, what's the deal? Why the great service on the highway and the 10 feet off it nothing?

At any rate, since I am a streaming junkie, I am sure to use way too much bandwidth again and get cut off.  Does it matter if I use most of that bandwidth at night when no one else is up? Probably not so we will see just how often I get my service speed cut in half.

Reflections....

After much joking, at the expense of those who believed with their whole hearts that the rapture would happen last night, I began reflecting on things as a child I grabbed a hold of, whether right or wrong, and wouldn't surrender them for anything. 

First, the rapture...

This idea is still "relatively" new. It was not commonly taught or believed in until about 200 years ago (maybe I didn't do much homework on the topic). I for one don't buy the concept of the rapture. I think man has added their own ideas and concepts, thus polluting the true meaning. (The timeline for most Christians is wrong anyway, if indeed the righteous are caught up to meet Christ at His coming it is after the tribulation and such right?)  So the rapture or being caught up to meet Christ via flying through the air and literally meeting Christ before all return and set Christ's throne and seat of power here on earth sounds fantastic.  I may be wrong here, I am just observing, but I see God our Father as one who is very subtle, and a full on rapture seems to be a grandstanding event that goes against his subtle nature towards us. ( Now, it's been a while since I have read revelation, so I may have it completely wrong)

Nephi a comparison...

When I was younger, I had it  ingrained in my head, that I should be like Nephi. That I should strive to be a good example, because everyone was watching me to know how to behave, that if I misbehaved then others wouldn't accept the truth of the Gospel because of my deeds. (Whether it was taught to me like that or not, it's how I took it ans internilized it) So my view of Nephi was as follows:

-He was exactly obedient to Gods commandments
-He was very serious
-He viewed laughing and "making yourself merry" as sin (remember this is as a child)

So putting these qualities together I think I wound up with a fairly warped sense of what life is supposed to be lie. So in a nutshell my child world view was:

Everyone is watching you so you need to be serious and focused on keeping the commandments as Nephi was,  never waivering in your resolve, because if you fall short and others follow your example their sins are your sins. (Well something like that any way)

The good news is I am no longer that self conscious. (Ok, maybe I am) I believe that each person is responsible for themselves reguardless of what I may do or the example I set. (That being said, I acknowledge the contradiction coming up and am ok with it, a bad example dissuades people from the truth, and while not your fault their lives are the way they are, it creates a stumbling block making it that much harder to accept the truth)

I have also found a respect and love of laughter and merriment that I at one point thought of as a sin, because Laman and Lemuel had a party with laughter on the boat to the promised land (I didn't understand the "rude" behavior was the actual problem not the laughter and dancing) so for a long while I was confused, believing that only church sponsored dances and jokes were allowed, all others were sins.

I am so glad that I out grew that (as of this post, j/k, kinda) life is so much more enjoyable with laughter and some merriment.

Birthdays....

Yes today we celebrated 2 birthdays...(not on their actual birthdays, early so they could make sure their rewinds could come and celebrate with them)

We had planned on two parties at the same time at McDonalds, giving each girl 10 freinds to invite. 

Things went smoothly, to say the least.  All the kids had a great time, playing on the equipment, talking and just generally goofing off.

When the party was settling down and the kids were leaving we went to pay the piper only to discover that someone beat us to it. We asked the manager who it was but she wouldn't even give us a description of the "man" who payed for the parties and our own individual meals, totaling about $155 he also included a generous tip for the staff of McDonalds. 

What a really nice thing to do!   So if it was you and you are reading this you should know, the whole anonymity thing is going to drive me crazy tonight....and of course thank you for your very generous gift.

:-D

Oh my gosh...

I got a text from t mobile, the other day, informing me that I had used way too much data and they would be reducing my speed. ( It's a good thing my billing cycle is up in 2 days)  So that got me thinking just how much data do I use. Typically, I may use only 2 gigabytes. ( Did I mention I stream a lot of audio and video)  Now, Since I got my nook, I have begun using my phone as a wifi hub. So naturally, I am using a lot more data. 

Are you ready for this...

I have used, a little more than 5 gigabytes.

At least now I know just how much data I can use before I get cut off.  :'(

Netflix on Android....

Been waiting a long time to say this....IT'S HERE!!!! IT'S FINALLY HERE!!! I found an official Netflix app in the Android market today. So now.I can stream movies while I am driving down the road! (Just joking-- kinda of)

Dick Van Dyke....and other stuff....

 I recently (last night) discovered that he has written a memoir, entitled My Lucky Life In and out of Show Business.  I got the audio book version because it is read by Dick Van Dyke and I love his voice (Also when books are read by the authors or the person they are about it becomes more personal, because you get the authors mood and feeling as they express their creativity) (that was a long parenthesis ;) )

The entire reading takes a little over 7 hours to listen to.  I listened all day and didn't finish (I still have about 2 and a half hours left)

The only things I knew about him were that he was in The Dick Van Dyke Show and Mary Poppins. I am finding his memoir fascinating and highly recommend it to every one who loved his wild antics on both the silver screen and in your living rooms growing up.

Other stuff....

We celebrated the boy's (No that's not what I call him, but for ananimity {spell check version didn't look right: unanimity} online thats what you get) birthday on Sunday.  He was really excited!  He kept exclaiming, "My Bike!" or "My Truck!" on your 3rd birthday do you remember being that excited?

My wife (who really loves dealing with children, ;-p) has an in home childcare service she offers.  (Its a real shame the income isn't consistent, then I could quit one of my JOBs) is currently full. We will see how long it lasts but for now its nice, as we don't use any of the childcare income to pay for household expenses.  So now we replenish our savings :)

Our kindergartener, is having a hard time staying on task (its really all four of them), she has good days and bad. Example: Yesterday, she wouldn't cooperate with her teacher and tried really hard to disprove me when I told the principle and her teacher she could handle first grade. Then today, she was a dream student, attentive and willing to work. She even got through her home work quickly, including, reading for 15 minutes and the math flash cards.

It is a working opinion, of ours, that our perfect little angels must have ADD. (If that is the case it explains a lot about me ;-p) My mother recently got a book with a test to take to help determine what type of ADD a person may have. (Sadly, we haven't taken the time to take it yet) (FYI the things in parenthesis are my own personal ADD moments) =)

Love It!!!!

That's right, I love it!

Love what, you ask? Why, my Nookcolor, of course.

Yes, I got an ebook reader. But why the Nookcolor? Because, when you stop and think about it what do you use a tablet for really anyway? Surfing the web and reading books. That may not be true for everyone but it is for me.

I deliberated for a while going back and forth, finally deciding that I would save and get the new Samsung Galaxy Tab 8.9. Then I looked at the Nookcolor again (To start with the Nookcolor is half the price of the Galaxy Tab)

The first time I looked at it, there was no Adobe Flash player, now there is. First time, it was just a reader, now it has an app store (although, this is a new feature, only 5 days old, I think, there are 140 or so apps available)

The Nookcolor is Android 2.2 at it's core with the Nook OS as the user interface. This will make the eventual apps available to be similar to what is in the android market (I read somewhere that the main requirement is that it look good on the 7 inch screen)

Battery life was expected to be very good advertised at 8 hours of continual reading....the reality is a little different. In an 11 hour interval from the time I unplugged it to the time I got home. I was able to read intermittently for 4 hours go to the Barnes and Noble web page (no it does not come with 3G, wifi only) and set up a gift card, go to the shopping section and download a book. After 9 hours the battery was dead (Only used it for about 4 hours off and on through out the night, the rest of the time it was a sleep and using precious battery life) Lesson learned always have the charger handy.

So if any of you want to share ebooks using the lending feature of nook then let me know. ;-p

Blind spots....

They have done it!!!  They finally did it!!  They removed the shelves above the registers. Most of you are no doubt thinking, "So? What's the big deal?"  Well the deal is those shelves were in front of the cameras, creating blind spots in the store (Some of us enjoyed having somewhere to stand around and not be on camera)  Now the entire store floor is viewable on the cameras. 

Translation.....

I LOST MY READING CORNER!!! 

The cameras may be monitored remotely by the district manager or one of the few paid employees whose job it is to make sure we are doing our job.  (Got to love the nanny job) 

Now I am "sure" that this was not done so they could watch me, but to have a better view of thieves.  But here you never can be to sure (They believe that the employees are the biggest thieves) 

Oh well,  I did find another blind spot but I don't have a place to sit down in it.

Other stuff....(Related to blind spots, kind of)

Just watched a new documentary called. 'Rumors of War 2' (The first one was great too)  It centers around the middle east and end times prophecy from two perspectives the Judeo/Christian and Muslim perspectives using the holy books from all. It surprised me that the Messiah described in the Koran was so similar to the Antichrist described in the bible.  Something else stood out also, the United States isn't found in end time prophecy (while I kind of knew that on some level, I didn't understand how that could be)

With things the way they are, and going, I can see now how the US would not be involved in the defense of Israel.  If we have some how made ourselves irrelevant by ie, devaluing our dollar and crashing our economy or becoming an economic slave to other nations from selling them our debt.  Both of which seem like a very likely scenario.

Don't get me wrong the entire documentary was not intended to be religious or to bash the entire Muslim religion. Its goal was to inform on current events in the middle east.  The new alliances being made there between the mainly Muslim nations, the caliphate that seems to be forming there with the goal of destroying Israel.  The Muslim "Messiah" is, according to some leadership in the middle east, is alive and working in the background to to bring the nations together to form a calaphate.

This is not to incite fear, only to inform so that those who are watching may see and have their faith rewarded and have time to prepare.  Is this the end times? Who knows. But know this, life will continue despite the circumstances we find ourselves in.  Watch and be mindfull, that you be not blind by the things going on around us.

One more rant....(Sorry for the downer)

I am getting too much sun. I spent all day yesterday and today outside and my sunscreen failed me.  So now I am as red as a fresh cooked lobster. Just don't crack me open and attempt to enjoy a meal (I really don't taste that good)

E - books, a love, hate relationship.....

As I am running out of actual books to read, I find myself considering ebooks.  So many things you have to love about them and so many things to despise.

I have loved the idea, since I was a youngster, of reading then selling or borrowing or lending books with out limits or conditions.

Enter the future...Ebooks....

Ebooks offer a lot of conveniences and are becoming more and more popular. You can carry volumes of information right in your pocket.  Depending on the application used to read them, you can highlight and take notes, place unlimited bookmarks with lables to describe what you bookmarked. (Long run on sentences are my specialty)  

Things you lose...

No more glancing at the book to see how much is left to read. No more reading second hand books or turning yours into one. (Some like Barns and Noble or Amazon are developing a lending feature but that is publisher specific but it has various restrictions)

Now if I could find an ebook library that would be awesome. I might even be willing to pay a small subscription fee. My requirements of the library are that I must be able to read as many books as I want to. The selection must include new books as well, not just the 300,000 or so copy right free books out there.  I would model it after Netflix. Some books having a time limit on them to read, but with the option to buy if I wanted.

If anyone knows of a place like that please let me know or feel free to take this idea and run with it as I don't have the capital needed to start it.

Long Negotiations...

After what seems like an eternity of talks, it would seem Barack interceded on our behalf.  (Because he obviously is an avid reader of my blog) The IRS finally found our tax transcripts and sent them to the bank and to us.  Which means you guessed it, we now have a car payment. (That can be taken good or bad, you decide)   To make things official (its just a figure of speach) we also made out first payment. 

And now other important pressing stuff....

FINALLY!!! Country Thunder is over! Its only 4 days of drunken slobs. (Me, I wanted to boycott it I just couldn't get anyone to join me)  It rained all day Saturday and made a muddy mess for all those that were camping out. Unfortunately, it mentioned a lot of mud to clean up (People wanted me to share in the experience, because I was wishing for so much rain that everyone would have to leave and the whole event would be canceled) 

Oh, about two weeks ago I decided that I am DONE!  Done with what exactly?  Well done with working two jobs of course.  Now I realize that nearly everyone reading this is not privy to wims of my mind so I will give some shady background to fill you in...

It came to my attention that in order for us to maintain our current lifestyle (although its not the envy of the world) it would cost an obscene amount of cash each week.

I found myself with two options...

Option one -- try to get a substantial raise from one of my employers and quit the other J.O.B. The furthest this got me was an agreed upon salary plus gas reimbursement. Which helps but didn't get me close enough.

Option two -- Find a new source of employment.  This one is harder and takes longer so an update will come when I have new developments.

Even more news...(See this is what happens when I forget I have a blog)

The book series I am reading (Percy Jackson) ....

I have just finished the fourth book and am about to start what I preceive to be the final book.  Things have been building to an epic battle from the first book, with little mini-Odyssey style adventures throughout the other books. Where fate of the olympian gods and the free world hanging in the balance against the greatest evil the world has ever known. All hanging in the hands of a 16 year old kid.  Gee, I wonder how it all turns out. :Ō

Broken phone...

The soft keys on my new phone suddenly stopped working. That is a major crisis!  I use my phone for everything.  I spent an hour with customer support trying to fix the phone (I even did a complete wipe of my phone)  but it was to no avail. So I started thinking about the insurance plan I have. Then suddenly I accidentally dropped my phone (it really was an accident)

Now all the buttons function as they should (for now). 
Moral of the story....if your phone brakes it just might need to the old drop kick method ;-p

Obama doesn't want me to get a new car...

Ok, I admit that Obama doesn't care or even know about my plight. However, he is the government, right? His infamous healthcare legislation did give more power to the IRS. Which brings us to the problem.

The bank won't approve us for for the loan without first comparing our figures with those the IRS us on file.

Hurray!!!  I got to call the IRS!!!!

Its everybody's favorite thing to do, right? 

The first time I called, (that's right I got to call more than once) I thought things went very smoothly. I was able to request my transcripts, no problem.

Then I called the dealer's financial department and PROBLEM.  I was informed that the bank wanted the transcripts directly from the IRS and would not accept them from me. He then put some distance between him and me saying, "Hey, I am just a middle man." Afterwords, he gave me the number of the guy handling our loan.  YAY!!!!  No more middle man.

Second call....I became the middle man (who knew thiswould be complicated?) I couldn't. Get it faxed unless I was standing in front of the fax machine.

Third call...really not liking being the new middle man. This time I thought I would pretend to be infront of the banks fax machine. This time I was told the an e-fax number was not secure enough.  So now I am stuck...

The banker said he would ask his uppers what they wanted to do and call me back in the morning.

So while Obama has nothing to do with it, I am hoping he reads this and takes action on my behalf.
:'(

Lost love rekindled...

Before you say anything, I love my wife, however she is not the long lost love that I have found.

I know this next part is going to sound cheesy....

I have found the best time to curl up to a good book is between midnight and two am.  The store is very quiet then.  Aside from a few, unwanted and unsolicited, customers, the time goes uninterrupted.

My current choice is the 'Percy Jackson & The Olympians' series.  Loved book one! Book two alot of the initial magic of discovery was gone, and I found the little reminders of things that happened in the first book annoying.  That being said, I realize it was not written for someone of my age.  I did however enjoy it enough, and the characters that I will continue reading the rest of the series.  (Yes even if I didn't already have them, a Christmas gift from my first geat love)  I have always found a fancination with the Greek gods. So it is really great to read of their heroic adventures set in our era.

Skipping a head... (This next bit is totally unrelated to the previous stuff)

Today was the county fair...a day that is looked forward to for the entire year by my young brood (and my wife).  Money is saved all year just for this event.

This year we did things different, only the kid went on rides and played the games.  Next year the adults will need a turn. 

They only had to stop one ride so our precious little scaredy cats could get off.  And the haunted house, they never made it past the front door. 

After every ride the three year old boy would say, "Funny." His word for, "That was fun!"

There was this complicated to explain fun house. You start off weaving through punching bags, climbing stairs and a net made of rope. (All the while get higher). Followed by a narrow bridge streching from one end to the other, immediately followed by another bridge taking you back across making you even higher.  Lastly, after all the climbing higher and higher till you are atleast 30 feet up, there is this really long and fast slide.  Looking at all this I was surprised that our little three year old was tall enough. 

So we did what any reasonable parents would do...

We called on the oldest and told her to take her brother up there and help him walk the course.

Ah, she is a real trooper, so eager to please. (Way too much like me)

At one point, she had to carry him across the seconds bridge.  Once at the slide, he was starting to freak out. 

For some reason he is afraid of slides.

(Does that make us bad parents for making him go when we knew there was a really long slide at the end?)

We had previously given our oldest the instructions, "You will have to push him down the slide."  Lucky for us, she has some sense in her. Rather than shoving him, she put him in front of her and went down with him, all the while he was protesting not wanting to go down. 

Once down, he said, "Funny!"  When asked if he wanted to go again, he scrunched his face and said, "uh uh!"  :-D

Cars, Loans & Work...

You know what really sucks rocks? Knowing you make acertain amount of money and then trying to find away to prove it. 

We recently were tentatively approved for a loan for a used mini van (They let us take it home and everthing)  Then began the arduous task of proving my income.

Sounds simple right?

It is IF you have paystubs and 3 months of bank statements showing an accurate picture of your finances.

Well, that's not us.  I get payed, supposedly, on a form 1090. But I have never seen one. Good thing I pay taxes on that money anyway.  However, the income we are stating is relatively new and is not reflective in the tax paperwork. Ever since we did away with credit cards we operate on a cash only basis only depositing what we need to pay mortgage and buy gasand other automatic payments. As a result a good chunk of our income is not reflected on our bank statements.

To help this out a little, I manufactured paystubs for my 1090 income then emailed copies to my 1090 employer so that he would have copies if asked. These statements also reflect the cash that is usually paid to me directly.

So now we wait and see if our tentative approval becomes a permanent approval.

We love playing the waiting game... :]

Stupid gets stupider...

Its a typical night at work, the cops hanging out outside (they come for the free coffee and stimulating conversation). When suddenly, am hit with a quick burst of customers, a group of girls came in first followed shortly by a  rather large, stalky guy (320 pounds easy).  He walks to the freezer section and starts shoving ice cream and pizza into his pockets.

As he approaches the counter, his pockets are bulging far more and in an inconsistent shape to go with his round figure.  So I immediately see something off. Once at the counter, the group of girls are behind him and they are trying to tell me, without getting his attention, that he had been taking stuff.  After he finished paying for the cigars he wanted, he turned and walked out.  Now, it became extremely obvious that he had ice cream in his pocket, as he turned around to head out the door I could see it easily.  I allowed him to walk out the door, and past the police standing outside the front door.

I looked out the window waved my arms to get the attention of the cops outside.

Now the hunt was on!
Armed with the guys description and name (the group of girls knew who he was), the police pull up to his house.  He is sitting on his front porch eating his haul, wearing a chocolate ring around his mouth (having eaten a carton of ice cream already).

Now if he hasn't proven himself a master criminal mind yet then wait to see what happens next.

He threatened the officer, not with bodily harm, no he was much too cunning for that. He said, "Hey I know where you eat!"  He of course works at a local sit down Mexican restaurant the cop frequents.

The next day, our master criminal was fired from the restaurant for threatening the cops future meals. =O

Who'da thunk it...

Well the phone that I dropped on its face, on a rock, cracking the
screen, was valued at $200.  That's right! Some schmuck out their
payed me $200 for it.
While I was out selling, I sold some very old technology (Granted out
is less than five years old, but by current standards, eh).  it was my
old PDA a Dell Axim. I understand that after I bought it, it being
obsolete already, Dell quit making them.  Someone else, thought it was
valued at $96.
So now I have enough to pay back my wife for the amount I went over
when I bought my new (crack free) phone and have $200 to do with as I
want.
So now to boast of my new phone, I got the nexus s and am loving it.
Wish that the flash player didn't use so much battery. Even while
charging it drains the power when using the wireless network (but only
for video). Next is the wifi test. ;-)

Baptism...

Ok, so baptism day for our ward.  My second born daughter is having a special day. 

She and two other boys in the ward were baptized. She was first. 

The water was very warm and very deep.  So deep that out was almost to her neck.  It kinda freaked her out.  She forgot what to do.  Poor thing. When out was time to put her under she didn't plug her nose and got a mouth full of water.

Poor kid...she is glad that this is a one time deal.

On the lighter side...

The bishop's son was third...he was complaining about how cold the water was.  He decided that the reason the water was so cold was because everyone that went before him sucked out all the heat.  Thus leaving him worth injury cold water.  :-o

Dirty....

Well...hmmm....how often does a 2 year old boy come and ask to take a bath?

The answer is obvious, right?

NEVER!

Well no one told him that, I am in the kitchen talking to my wife, when he comes up to me, hugs my legs, looks up and says, "I wanna baff."  I looked to my wife and asked if she put him up to it. 

But no, of course not.  Its just further proof that my kids are very abnormal.  :oP

Kids always doing stuff,

Sometimes I wonder...why won't mine even try.  It is as if they don't see the point of school.  Of course as my mother would testify, "they are doing exactly what i did."

As a child, I was a classic under achiever.  I never saw the point in doing something that didn't capture my attention.  While I enjoyed school, I didn't enjoy the learning part.  It was the people I wanted to be around.  Yes, even though I was the quiet, shy kid who got picked on.

Now, as a parent, I see the same qualities that I possessed as a child in my kids.  So naturally, kits are  infuriatingly frustrating.

On to more fun...

My oldest is reminding me of imaginative play time.  She pulls out toys and spends hours talking to herself in different voices.   While the youngest is finding hiding places inside cabnets (his favorite being under the tv) and also talking to himself in funny voices.  So of course I have a house full of kids who like to talk to themselves.  But why would that be strange?  I talk to myself all the time, heck I even hear myself answer.

The only normal ones on the house are the dogs, but that's pushing it.  ;-p

Life's unexpected...

My wife finally saw an ipad in action.  She immediately thought it was cool.  Bet she starts to want one soon. 

As for me I am total up in the air as to whether I want the nexus s or wait for one of the many android 3.0 tablets to become available.

Only 4 more days till my wifes b-day.  She will be a whole 4 days older than she is now.

And guess what, so will I!  Funny how we age at the same pace.

And now the weather: It always does unexpected things.  My daughter planned her birthday at the park a month in advance, and of course it rained. So we moved the party indoors to mcdonalds.

Well that's it for now...We will see if I think about posting again... :-/