I went into the doctor today to get him to look at my throat. Turns out it's strep, they put me on an antibiotic.
I didn't go into work yesterday or today, some of the guys called at various times, (because being at home sick means you can still work, as long as your laptop is on and you aren't oozing bodily fluids.) a couple of them tried making some sort of attempt at humor saying I wasn't sick, I was just being lazy. This afternoon, after being at the doctor, I got a couple of these calls. I volunteered to come right in and help them personally with whatever it was they wanted me to do, and let them know I had strep, and was going to be contagious until the medicine kicked in. In both cases, they backpedaled immediately and didn't want me to come in. (Since they knew that if they went any further, I would make good on my threat.) Maybe they will think twice the next time I email and say I'm out sick for the day...
By the way, it was the worse possible day to have a sore throat. Today was Free Taco Day at Taco Bell. I thought about walking over there with the girls this afternoon, but they were giving away hard shell tacos, and the effort to get the girls organized and down the street wasn't worth it if I wasn't even going to be able to eat the taco myself...
Tuesday, October 30, 2007
Dental Work
On Sunday, Mary told us that she had teeth growing in behind her front bottom teeth. We don't spent a lot of time looking in anyone's mouth but Lilly, (Lilly is always putting something in her mouth, we are always looking to see what she's got in there. She's like a squirrel storing things up for later.) so Mary's announcement was news to us. The 2 front bottom teeth were loose, but we couldn't get them out, at least in any nice way.
Tara took Mary to the dentist today, she ended up having the front 4 teeth pulled. She seems to have taken it well. They tried nitrous oxide on her, she wouldn't do it, she said it made her stomach upset and smelled funny. Tara says she took the extraction really well.
On Sunday, I told Mary not to go to school and say "I got into trouble, and my parents pulled my teeth out." Tara was not amused. Last night, Drew came by, we said something about her needing to get her teeth pulled out, Drew asked why, I told him "Because she just won't behave herself." The look on Drew's face was priceless. It was something like 25% shock, 25% poker face, 25% "Did I hear that right?", and 25% "Am I going to have to arrest John?" Tara was once again not amused.
Anyway, hopefully this will let Mary's front bottom teeth move up to where they should be. She is no longer part shark. The dentist wanted to see her in 6 months to make sure the top front teeth are not doing the same thing.
Tara took Mary to the dentist today, she ended up having the front 4 teeth pulled. She seems to have taken it well. They tried nitrous oxide on her, she wouldn't do it, she said it made her stomach upset and smelled funny. Tara says she took the extraction really well.
On Sunday, I told Mary not to go to school and say "I got into trouble, and my parents pulled my teeth out." Tara was not amused. Last night, Drew came by, we said something about her needing to get her teeth pulled out, Drew asked why, I told him "Because she just won't behave herself." The look on Drew's face was priceless. It was something like 25% shock, 25% poker face, 25% "Did I hear that right?", and 25% "Am I going to have to arrest John?" Tara was once again not amused.
Anyway, hopefully this will let Mary's front bottom teeth move up to where they should be. She is no longer part shark. The dentist wanted to see her in 6 months to make sure the top front teeth are not doing the same thing.
Letters to Missionaries
When I was on my mission, I would get letters from the High Council of my home stake semi regularly. They wrote them every month, I would usually get the October letter in late November or into December. Once in a while, I would get 2 letters in the same mailing. I started thinking it was funny.
About 9 months ago, I suggested in Stake Presidency meeting that we could have the High Council start writing letters to the missionaries. I was asked to make sure it happens. (That's what I get for opening my mouth.)
We've been doing a pretty good job getting the letters out, at least until the last 2 months. The September letter went out at the very end of September, the High Councilman took a while writing the letter. This month, I got the letter plenty early, but he left town, I didn't get the letters signed until last week. I thought I was doing good, I had the envelopes prepared ahead of time, but I didn't get them mailed until today. The letters went out late again. Now I'm understanding what was happening when I was on my mission.
I realized today that getting the letters out late means I could end up sending a letter out to a missionary that might not actually get it, if the said missionary comes home the next month. 2 of the letters that went out today are for missionaries coming home in a couple of weeks, but they are serving State-side, so they will likely still get the letter. I have to be careful, we've got a number of missionaries returning in the next few months...
About 9 months ago, I suggested in Stake Presidency meeting that we could have the High Council start writing letters to the missionaries. I was asked to make sure it happens. (That's what I get for opening my mouth.)
We've been doing a pretty good job getting the letters out, at least until the last 2 months. The September letter went out at the very end of September, the High Councilman took a while writing the letter. This month, I got the letter plenty early, but he left town, I didn't get the letters signed until last week. I thought I was doing good, I had the envelopes prepared ahead of time, but I didn't get them mailed until today. The letters went out late again. Now I'm understanding what was happening when I was on my mission.
I realized today that getting the letters out late means I could end up sending a letter out to a missionary that might not actually get it, if the said missionary comes home the next month. 2 of the letters that went out today are for missionaries coming home in a couple of weeks, but they are serving State-side, so they will likely still get the letter. I have to be careful, we've got a number of missionaries returning in the next few months...
Monday, October 29, 2007
BMI (Body Mass Index)
I'm 2 pounds away from being overweight. This is not a bad thing.
The BMI is a ratio of weight to height. 18.5 to 25 is 'normal', 25 to 30 is 'overweight', and over 30 is 'obese'. This thing doesn't take into account things like "big boned" people, people with lots of muscle, people with lots of titanium in them, people with big heads or thick skulls, or people with inordinate amounts of hair on their bodies. (I'll let you figure out where I fit in here.)
If I lose 2 pounds, I will cross over from obese into overweight. Tara figures I could just get a haircut, that would take care of it. This should make the doctor that diagnosed me with acid reflux happy. She went off twice about how I needed to lose weight. (She told Drew he needed to gain weight. We're like 2 very strange bookends.)
I don't think I will even try to get down the the 'normal' range. I would have to lose 25 more pounds to get there, and would be under 180. I remember the last time I was down that low, it was when my gall bladder went nuts. I think I was not a "healthy skinny" back then. My target is maybe another 10 pounds...
The BMI is a ratio of weight to height. 18.5 to 25 is 'normal', 25 to 30 is 'overweight', and over 30 is 'obese'. This thing doesn't take into account things like "big boned" people, people with lots of muscle, people with lots of titanium in them, people with big heads or thick skulls, or people with inordinate amounts of hair on their bodies. (I'll let you figure out where I fit in here.)
If I lose 2 pounds, I will cross over from obese into overweight. Tara figures I could just get a haircut, that would take care of it. This should make the doctor that diagnosed me with acid reflux happy. She went off twice about how I needed to lose weight. (She told Drew he needed to gain weight. We're like 2 very strange bookends.)
I don't think I will even try to get down the the 'normal' range. I would have to lose 25 more pounds to get there, and would be under 180. I remember the last time I was down that low, it was when my gall bladder went nuts. I think I was not a "healthy skinny" back then. My target is maybe another 10 pounds...
Saturday, October 27, 2007
Balloons
I taught Ruth a new trick this afternoon. She has some practicing to do before she perfects it.
Birthday party
We had a birthday party for Kate today where she invited friends over. We told the girls they could have birthday parties for friends when they turn 8 and 16. (We aren't any more ambitious than that.) It only took us 7 weeks to get organized and get the party started after Kate's birthday.
They seem to have had a good time. Kate ended up having 7 friends show up. (One had already left by the time we took this picture.)
The next one is in 2 years...
They seem to have had a good time. Kate ended up having 7 friends show up. (One had already left by the time we took this picture.)
The next one is in 2 years...
Friday, October 26, 2007
Poll Worker Training
On Tuesday, I went over to the county building for "advanced poll worker" training. This is the kind of thing that if I had been doing it, we would have been done in an hour, max. The guy teaching it must have liked the sound of his voice, he kept talking and talking.
As part of the training, we put up a voting machine, went through the reports for election day, and took the machine down. Me and my partner started putting the thing up, and one of the parts was messed up. After about 30 seconds, I started looking at the part. It looked like someone had stepped on it. I ended up fixing the part, and getting the machine up and going. The guy came around a few minutes later, and was impressed the thing was working. 15 minutes later, some other people were still fiddling with the same part on their machine, he finally told them he had broken it on purpose to see what the workers would do. At that point, I started getting just a little ticked off. He also had another talking session after that.
This morning, I went to the "basic poll worker" training. I walked into the room, and the guy was teaching again. I went to sign in, and wasn't on the paper. Turns out I was in the room next door. The lady teaching there did a very good job keeping the pace going while making sure she was able to answer the questions of the people who were newbies. In an hour we were done with the slides. (It's a longer class.) She planned to have them spend a little time on the machines, but she let me go. Double bonus. I really have to say, that's the kind of election poll worker training I like.
As part of the training, we put up a voting machine, went through the reports for election day, and took the machine down. Me and my partner started putting the thing up, and one of the parts was messed up. After about 30 seconds, I started looking at the part. It looked like someone had stepped on it. I ended up fixing the part, and getting the machine up and going. The guy came around a few minutes later, and was impressed the thing was working. 15 minutes later, some other people were still fiddling with the same part on their machine, he finally told them he had broken it on purpose to see what the workers would do. At that point, I started getting just a little ticked off. He also had another talking session after that.
This morning, I went to the "basic poll worker" training. I walked into the room, and the guy was teaching again. I went to sign in, and wasn't on the paper. Turns out I was in the room next door. The lady teaching there did a very good job keeping the pace going while making sure she was able to answer the questions of the people who were newbies. In an hour we were done with the slides. (It's a longer class.) She planned to have them spend a little time on the machines, but she let me go. Double bonus. I really have to say, that's the kind of election poll worker training I like.
Pumpkin Dessert Update
So, the ward party was tonight, we brought the pumpkin Pi, pumpkin dessert, and a pot of chili I made this morning.
Things seemed to be well received, a number of people thought the pumpkin Pi was pretty funny, several others had to have it explained to them. (Pretty much what I was going for.)
The chili was good, I had 3 bowls, and we didn't have any leftover, so I figure it was alright. The person who won the chili contest made a steak chili.
They announced the winner of the dessert contest as the person who made the pumpkin trifle. When I raised my hand, the relief society president looked shocked. "Did you really make it?" Anyway, there wasn't any of that left over, either.
Things seemed to be well received, a number of people thought the pumpkin Pi was pretty funny, several others had to have it explained to them. (Pretty much what I was going for.)
The chili was good, I had 3 bowls, and we didn't have any leftover, so I figure it was alright. The person who won the chili contest made a steak chili.
They announced the winner of the dessert contest as the person who made the pumpkin trifle. When I raised my hand, the relief society president looked shocked. "Did you really make it?" Anyway, there wasn't any of that left over, either.
They gave me this nifty trophy.
Halloween Costume - part 7 of 7
I entitled this "Dick Keele - 30 years ago." Dick Keele thought it was hilarious, and right on, except the hair was too short.
You'd have to know Dick Keele.
Pumpkin dessert
We have a ward party tonight, they are having a pumpkin dessert contest. I signed up, but refuse to go the pumpkin pie or pumpkin bars route. I've already made my pumpkin pi, so that's ready, but I figured I needed to go just a little further.
I decided to make a pumpkin dessert. Mary and Emma were a little surprised to find out this is what the inside of a pumpkin looked like. (City kids)
I hollowed the beast out, and lined it with several layers of Saran Wrap and Cling Wrap.
The first layer was chocolate pudding.
After the chocolate pudding, I put in Cool Whip. Then I got a bunch of cheesecake pudding, and poured it in. It turns out that Cool Whip will float on pudding that's not set, so I ended up with a cheesecake pudding/cool whip mixture.
I tried to put something in that would keep the top layer of pudding from allowing the cool whip to float to the top. My solution was Halloween edition M&Ms. It mostly worked.
The top layer of pudding was vanilla. I put more cool whip on top of that. Before we go tonight, I plan to put vanilla wafers on to top it off. (Tara suggested waiting so that the vanilla wafers don't get soggy.)
We put the lid on, and voila - pumpkin dessert. There is no use of the secret ingredient, but I should get full points for presentation.
I decided to make a pumpkin dessert. Mary and Emma were a little surprised to find out this is what the inside of a pumpkin looked like. (City kids)
I hollowed the beast out, and lined it with several layers of Saran Wrap and Cling Wrap.
The first layer was chocolate pudding.
After the chocolate pudding, I put in Cool Whip. Then I got a bunch of cheesecake pudding, and poured it in. It turns out that Cool Whip will float on pudding that's not set, so I ended up with a cheesecake pudding/cool whip mixture.
I tried to put something in that would keep the top layer of pudding from allowing the cool whip to float to the top. My solution was Halloween edition M&Ms. It mostly worked.
The top layer of pudding was vanilla. I put more cool whip on top of that. Before we go tonight, I plan to put vanilla wafers on to top it off. (Tara suggested waiting so that the vanilla wafers don't get soggy.)
We put the lid on, and voila - pumpkin dessert. There is no use of the secret ingredient, but I should get full points for presentation.
Thursday, October 25, 2007
Free taco day
On Tuesday Oct 30, from 2 to 5pm local time, Taco Bell is offering a free taco to everyone in America. Free taco day lives!
Why you ask? Because Jacoby Ellsbury (Boston Red Sox) stole 2nd base tonight in the world series.
I'm not sure that they will be able to allow you to order anything else to eat, if you wanted to, depending on how crowded things are at the store, you could always fill up on hot sauce if you want.
Now, if only someone would hit the grand slam so we could all go to Denny's...
Monday, October 22, 2007
Peek-A-Boo
Lily enjoys playing Peek-A-Boo, but for some reason she's decided to cover her ears instead of her eyes. Here you can see her get really excited about it.
The return of pumpkin Pi
A couple of years ago, I made pumpkin Pi. Here is a different rendition of the same theme, for your viewing pleasure.Our ward is having a party of Friday, they are having a pumpkin dessert contest. I signed up to bring a dessert. I will, of course, be bringing pumpkin Pi...
Making Jack-O-Lanterns - the clean way - and without the lantern
What do you do when you don't want the mess of the insides of a pumpkin? You buy stickers...
The secret life of younger sisters
Sunday, October 21, 2007
It's good to be wanted, sort of.
When Ruth is with Tara, she will occasionally say, with great emotion, "I want my Daddy!" This sometimes causes problems, like when I am at work. Tara had her one of the last couple of days in the car driving around. Ruth had fallen asleep, at some point partially woke up and muttered "I want my Daddy." I guess it's not just for show when she does it semi consciously.
Tara had to speak in church today. (I guess she technically didn't have to speak, but she did anyway.) I sat down with the girls about half way back the chapel. I figured there would be problems, Ruth would really prefer to sit on the stand every week anyway. I get the feeling she thinks it would be fun to be up there. Anyway, just before the sacrament, she had decided that she'd had enough coloring, and wanted to go sit with Tara. "I want to sit with my Mommy!" This I wasn't willing to allow, for 2 reasons. The first was that I couldn't guarantee she would behave, and I would need to go get her at some point. I was holding Lilly, so this was not a preferred option. The second was that Tara was going to have to get up and speak, I didn't want to tick Tara off by not being able to handle the kids, at least not before she spoke. (Turns out she was last on the program.)
Ruth started insisting, we went out in the hall. (Ruth, Lilly, and I) Ruth was pretty upset, and took a while to stop crying. When I thought things were completely calm again, I asked her if she wanted to go in and sit with Emma. The first 2 times I asked, the answer was no, she wanted to sit with Mommy. The third time, she decided to say she wanted to sit with Emma. We went in, Ruth made a bee line for the stand. I caught her just before she got there, which made her mad, we went back out in the hall. Just before Tara was to speak, I convinced her to go in and sit by Emma, but monitored the travel down the aisle, and turned her head in the direction of our pew when we got there. She went in the pew and sat down. She seemed ok with things once Tara started speaking...
Tara had to speak in church today. (I guess she technically didn't have to speak, but she did anyway.) I sat down with the girls about half way back the chapel. I figured there would be problems, Ruth would really prefer to sit on the stand every week anyway. I get the feeling she thinks it would be fun to be up there. Anyway, just before the sacrament, she had decided that she'd had enough coloring, and wanted to go sit with Tara. "I want to sit with my Mommy!" This I wasn't willing to allow, for 2 reasons. The first was that I couldn't guarantee she would behave, and I would need to go get her at some point. I was holding Lilly, so this was not a preferred option. The second was that Tara was going to have to get up and speak, I didn't want to tick Tara off by not being able to handle the kids, at least not before she spoke. (Turns out she was last on the program.)
Ruth started insisting, we went out in the hall. (Ruth, Lilly, and I) Ruth was pretty upset, and took a while to stop crying. When I thought things were completely calm again, I asked her if she wanted to go in and sit with Emma. The first 2 times I asked, the answer was no, she wanted to sit with Mommy. The third time, she decided to say she wanted to sit with Emma. We went in, Ruth made a bee line for the stand. I caught her just before she got there, which made her mad, we went back out in the hall. Just before Tara was to speak, I convinced her to go in and sit by Emma, but monitored the travel down the aisle, and turned her head in the direction of our pew when we got there. She went in the pew and sat down. She seemed ok with things once Tara started speaking...
Friday, October 19, 2007
Book Review
Hate Mail From Cheerleaders
Rick Reilly
People who write sports columns have a really easy way to write a book every once in a while. All they have to do is take a bunch of their articles, either sort them into topics or not, add a few sentences of commentary here and there, and viola!, they've got a book written. In this case, Rick Reilly has put together 100 articles from his Sports Illustrated column from the past 6 years or so. (He's the guy you find at the back, right next to the vodka advertisement. Or that's what they had across from him back when I was getting the thing.)
I normally like his columns, but over the past 6 years, I've read maybe 20 of them, mostly in doctors offices. The problem with reading a book of columns is that you can sometimes only take them in smaller portions. He's not really a sports writer, he writes stories that somehow tie in to the world of sports: the somehow handicapped kid that participates against all odds, the stories of the people ripping off old sports players, steroids, or the article about some sports person but dripping with sarcasm. Taken in chunks, the book is a nice read.
My theory as to the 100 articles to make up the book? "Let's see, I've got 86 articles here so far. Let's go for an even 100!"
He definitely does not like Barry Bonds. Or Sammy Sosa. Or knuckle headed NBA players.
Article 99 talked about the baseball field that was built in Tel Afar in 2003. I wonder if was still there when Adam was there. (Am I allowed to say that here now?) Were they playing baseball 4 nights a week?
CSI: preschool
Tara was gone all afternoon and well into the evening, mine was the task of keeping a 2 and 4 year old entertained during this time. (It helped that part of that was naptime.)
Before dinner, Emma helped me make cookies. We've got a tub of cookie dough mix from Costco, so it's pretty easily done. Emmas help consisted of wearing an apron and saying "you need 3 scoops for each cookie, Dad." Emma appears to enjoy really thick cookies.
After dinner we went outside to play. The first 1/2 hour was free play while I pruned bushes, but after that we started playing baseball. Baseball wasn't going all that well since the batters really weren't swinging the bat in any fashion that would ever produce a hit. (Normally I would throw the ball straight at the bat so that the ball bounces off the bat, producing the desired hit, but they were making it difficult.) I ended up sending the girls out to the grass, and hit the balls up in the air to have them catch them. This kept their attention for about a half hour. (When they were starting to get tired of it, I told them they could have cookies and ice cream if they caught one out of the air.)
After baseball, we had more free time. Just before we went in, I drew chalk outlines of the 2 girls, then Emma drew one of me... Emma is very proud of them.
Before dinner, Emma helped me make cookies. We've got a tub of cookie dough mix from Costco, so it's pretty easily done. Emmas help consisted of wearing an apron and saying "you need 3 scoops for each cookie, Dad." Emma appears to enjoy really thick cookies.
After dinner we went outside to play. The first 1/2 hour was free play while I pruned bushes, but after that we started playing baseball. Baseball wasn't going all that well since the batters really weren't swinging the bat in any fashion that would ever produce a hit. (Normally I would throw the ball straight at the bat so that the ball bounces off the bat, producing the desired hit, but they were making it difficult.) I ended up sending the girls out to the grass, and hit the balls up in the air to have them catch them. This kept their attention for about a half hour. (When they were starting to get tired of it, I told them they could have cookies and ice cream if they caught one out of the air.)
After baseball, we had more free time. Just before we went in, I drew chalk outlines of the 2 girls, then Emma drew one of me... Emma is very proud of them.
Cell phone problems
I've been trying to call Adam for the better part of the last week. At times I got a phone that said the VM box was not yet set up, other times I got some dude that wasn't Adam, and was upset about it.
It turns out that it wasn't isolated to just calling Adam. I called a couple of people today, and ended up calling someone on a number that was completely different than the one I intended. I figured out what actually happened. At times from calling from the contacts list, the number would call wrong, if I dialed the number directly, the number would go through correctly. (I started asking what number I dialed after I got the wrong number.)
I hear "they have had this problem before" with some of our Verizon phones. The 'solution' was to connect and update the phone SW. I did it, we will see if it works or not.
It turns out that it wasn't isolated to just calling Adam. I called a couple of people today, and ended up calling someone on a number that was completely different than the one I intended. I figured out what actually happened. At times from calling from the contacts list, the number would call wrong, if I dialed the number directly, the number would go through correctly. (I started asking what number I dialed after I got the wrong number.)
I hear "they have had this problem before" with some of our Verizon phones. The 'solution' was to connect and update the phone SW. I did it, we will see if it works or not.
Thursday, October 18, 2007
The pain cycle
I've been working my way through 8 weeks of weekly high doses of Vitamin D to try to help out a vitamin D deficiency. I'm now at week 6. I take the medicine on Thursday evening. Here's how things go:
Friday through Sunday - things are ok.
Usually when I wake up on Monday morning, my shoulders start to hurt just a little. My back starts to hurt just a little. My ankle hurts a little more than normal.
By the end of the day Monday, my shoulders really start hurting, my neck hurts, and a headache starts.
When I wake up Tuesday, I have been waking up with very painful shoulders, and a really sore neck. From time to time my shoulders hurt so bad that I can not lift my hands over my head. My bad really hurts then. This continues like this off and on for the next 3 days, through Thursday. Sometimes my ankle hurts a ton. Sometimes my knees hurt. The headache doesn't go away.
On Thursday evening, I take the medicine. By the end of the night, I have started feeling quite a bit better. The headache goes away, just about all the pain subsides. By Friday morning, everything is great again.
I've been taking ibuprofen trying to see if it helps. It's my most consistant meal. It's not really helping, except for maybe helping some so it's not completely unbearable. I've got 2 more weeks before I go back in to the doctor to get blood work redone.
Long story short: Long live the weekend.
Friday through Sunday - things are ok.
Usually when I wake up on Monday morning, my shoulders start to hurt just a little. My back starts to hurt just a little. My ankle hurts a little more than normal.
By the end of the day Monday, my shoulders really start hurting, my neck hurts, and a headache starts.
When I wake up Tuesday, I have been waking up with very painful shoulders, and a really sore neck. From time to time my shoulders hurt so bad that I can not lift my hands over my head. My bad really hurts then. This continues like this off and on for the next 3 days, through Thursday. Sometimes my ankle hurts a ton. Sometimes my knees hurt. The headache doesn't go away.
On Thursday evening, I take the medicine. By the end of the night, I have started feeling quite a bit better. The headache goes away, just about all the pain subsides. By Friday morning, everything is great again.
I've been taking ibuprofen trying to see if it helps. It's my most consistant meal. It's not really helping, except for maybe helping some so it's not completely unbearable. I've got 2 more weeks before I go back in to the doctor to get blood work redone.
Long story short: Long live the weekend.
Search and Recovery
The brother of a member of our ward went missing 2 nights ago, they found his car yesterday. Some of us went up this morning to help look for him. I was on the South side of some railroad tracks, they found him on the North side after a few hours of looking. It's kind of sad. It's kind of good they found him, now they don't don't have to have the worry of not knowing what happened...
Tuesday, October 16, 2007
City Council
We have been watching the city council meeting for the last hour and a half, had I not had Stake stuff tonight, I would have been down there in the fray causing trouble.
They were debating a parking permit ordinance for our neighborhood. Portions of our neighborhood east of us have been overrun by students living in violation of the housing code. (Too many in a place, not enough parking for them, that kind of thing.) Drew spends plenty of time in the neighborhood giving out speeding tickets, but it doesn't help. some of these knuckleheads don't care. Some of the streets in our neighborhood have problems with parking, people parking all over the place, on the lawns, blocking driveways, where ever they want.
They debated the thing for more than 2 hours, at one point I was on my way down there to say something. (I'm not sure what it would have been exactly, but it would have at least been a stab at ending the discussion and going forward with a vote. Something like "The mayor & city council are well aware of the problems. This is not new, it's been around for a while and is getting worse. Our Stake has written letters, individuals have written letters, law enforcement is constantly called. This isn't a solution, the solution is enforcement, which I'm sure is hard. We have a hard time figuring out who lives where when dealing with church membership records. In the meantime, please do something to help us long time residents who are being impacted by the short timers." Anyway, they called for 2 remaining speakers as I was about to go down there, so I stayed home.
They eventually closed the public portion of the hearing, and they gave the mayor some time to speak. I said "The mayor is finally talking some sense!" Several of the city council were commenting, the one lady who represents us started talking, and the city channel went dead and never came back. I don't know what happened, to the channel or in the city council vote. (They could be still talking about it, for all I know.)
Anyway, parking permit or not, Drew's still going to have to still be sitting right around the corner nailing the speeders and the crazy drivers. There will still be a motorcycle problem in the neighborhood late at night on the weekends.
One thing that might be significant: A couple of people talked about the anger that was bubbling up in the neighborhood about traffic and parking. The mayor talked about how anger about the issue has been building over a long period of time. I wonder if there is something to be said about that. Can something be done about the anger people have over the issue? Would it even help? If the full timers gave up their anger towards the other segment of the population, and found a way to show it, would it make a difference? Or would those who are currently the target of the anger just walk all over them? (We don't have a problem with parking on our particular street right now.)
Or are there other methods? Back in the day when Adam lived with us, we would have people park in front of our house all the time. Usually is was during parties, some were loud. I would park my car behind the car in question, fairly close, Adam would park his Bronco in front of the people, very close, and we'd leave our cars there. It was great fun. We really enjoyed it.
We could also start posting signs on the main streets right here. Something like "The city has a housing code. Are you in violation of the housing code? Are you living illegally right now? Are you violating the honor code? Think about it." Maybe some will move. Maybe not. Maybe we can put up some kind of bounty for people who turn in enough evidence to the housing enforcement office to fix one dwelling.
I figure the enforcement people need someone meaner. I'm plenty mean. I can also be plenty meticulous, when I have to be...
They were debating a parking permit ordinance for our neighborhood. Portions of our neighborhood east of us have been overrun by students living in violation of the housing code. (Too many in a place, not enough parking for them, that kind of thing.) Drew spends plenty of time in the neighborhood giving out speeding tickets, but it doesn't help. some of these knuckleheads don't care. Some of the streets in our neighborhood have problems with parking, people parking all over the place, on the lawns, blocking driveways, where ever they want.
They debated the thing for more than 2 hours, at one point I was on my way down there to say something. (I'm not sure what it would have been exactly, but it would have at least been a stab at ending the discussion and going forward with a vote. Something like "The mayor & city council are well aware of the problems. This is not new, it's been around for a while and is getting worse. Our Stake has written letters, individuals have written letters, law enforcement is constantly called. This isn't a solution, the solution is enforcement, which I'm sure is hard. We have a hard time figuring out who lives where when dealing with church membership records. In the meantime, please do something to help us long time residents who are being impacted by the short timers." Anyway, they called for 2 remaining speakers as I was about to go down there, so I stayed home.
They eventually closed the public portion of the hearing, and they gave the mayor some time to speak. I said "The mayor is finally talking some sense!" Several of the city council were commenting, the one lady who represents us started talking, and the city channel went dead and never came back. I don't know what happened, to the channel or in the city council vote. (They could be still talking about it, for all I know.)
Anyway, parking permit or not, Drew's still going to have to still be sitting right around the corner nailing the speeders and the crazy drivers. There will still be a motorcycle problem in the neighborhood late at night on the weekends.
One thing that might be significant: A couple of people talked about the anger that was bubbling up in the neighborhood about traffic and parking. The mayor talked about how anger about the issue has been building over a long period of time. I wonder if there is something to be said about that. Can something be done about the anger people have over the issue? Would it even help? If the full timers gave up their anger towards the other segment of the population, and found a way to show it, would it make a difference? Or would those who are currently the target of the anger just walk all over them? (We don't have a problem with parking on our particular street right now.)
Or are there other methods? Back in the day when Adam lived with us, we would have people park in front of our house all the time. Usually is was during parties, some were loud. I would park my car behind the car in question, fairly close, Adam would park his Bronco in front of the people, very close, and we'd leave our cars there. It was great fun. We really enjoyed it.
We could also start posting signs on the main streets right here. Something like "The city has a housing code. Are you in violation of the housing code? Are you living illegally right now? Are you violating the honor code? Think about it." Maybe some will move. Maybe not. Maybe we can put up some kind of bounty for people who turn in enough evidence to the housing enforcement office to fix one dwelling.
I figure the enforcement people need someone meaner. I'm plenty mean. I can also be plenty meticulous, when I have to be...
Monday, October 15, 2007
Restaurant Review
We went out to eat tonight. Emma drew the straw to choose, she was insisting on Brick Oven. She told me they had other things besides pizza, it would be alright. The last 2 times we went to Brock Oven, we were under impressed. Prices are going up, portions are going down, quality is going down.
We thought about Doc's Pizza Buffet, but they have signifigantly increased their prices.
We ended up going out to Fuddruckers. It's "kids eat for 99 cents", which means "For every adult entree, you can get a kids meal for 99 cents." Whatever. The girls seemed to enjoy the place, Lily really liked eating fries the girls gave her.
Tara got a salad, and it was huge. The lettuce was crisp, the thing had tons of chicken. I got a burger.
In the end, we all had a cookie. The girls enjoyed it.
We thought about Doc's Pizza Buffet, but they have signifigantly increased their prices.
We ended up going out to Fuddruckers. It's "kids eat for 99 cents", which means "For every adult entree, you can get a kids meal for 99 cents." Whatever. The girls seemed to enjoy the place, Lily really liked eating fries the girls gave her.
Tara got a salad, and it was huge. The lettuce was crisp, the thing had tons of chicken. I got a burger.
In the end, we all had a cookie. The girls enjoyed it.
Fun with a 2 year old
Ruth's agenda for yesterday after Church:
4:30pm - fall asleep on the floor in Lily's bedroom. Sleep for 5 hours.
9:30pm - come out to the back room for a visit. Help Dad with his laptop.
10:00pm - get taken back to bed.
10:30pm - decide bed wasn't all that it was cracked up to be. Come out to the back room to color.
11:15pm - go back to bed.
11:45pm - come back out. start the party again.
12:45am - watch Barney
1:30am - Dad decides to turn on "The Next Iron Chef" - This turns out to be not interesting enough to keep her going, she falls asleep. (Which is what Dad was going for.)
4:30pm - fall asleep on the floor in Lily's bedroom. Sleep for 5 hours.
9:30pm - come out to the back room for a visit. Help Dad with his laptop.
10:00pm - get taken back to bed.
10:30pm - decide bed wasn't all that it was cracked up to be. Come out to the back room to color.
11:15pm - go back to bed.
11:45pm - come back out. start the party again.
12:45am - watch Barney
1:30am - Dad decides to turn on "The Next Iron Chef" - This turns out to be not interesting enough to keep her going, she falls asleep. (Which is what Dad was going for.)
Rain
We've been getting some rain lately, it's supposed to rain tomorrow. They say it's good for us because the mountains get saturated before Winter, then in the spring, the melt becomes runoff and doesn't just stay up there, but fills the streams, lakes and resivours. We've had a few years of "drought" in recent memory, and people are always ready to blame it on one thing or another. (It couldn't be the fact that we live in a desert. That's just crazy talk.)
I didn't water my lawn all that much this year. It's definitely under once a week, more like every 2 weeks or less for the summer. We ended up with a couple of dry spots, especially in the back, and for a little while a couple of weeks ago, the lawn started looking fairly stressed out. Since then, we've gotten a lot of rain, and the lawn looks good. I will need to mow at least one more time this year. I think it helped that I kept the lawn longer all summer.
Anyway, my personal opinion (on global warming at least) is that yes, we as a civilization are having an impact on weather, but I don't think it's as pronounced as people would want to believe. The Earth is just in a cycle of warming. It's not like it's currently as warm as it will be when "the elements shall melt with fervent heat", at least not yet. I'll call it global warming then. And maybe that's what it will take for Tara to not feel cold.
I didn't water my lawn all that much this year. It's definitely under once a week, more like every 2 weeks or less for the summer. We ended up with a couple of dry spots, especially in the back, and for a little while a couple of weeks ago, the lawn started looking fairly stressed out. Since then, we've gotten a lot of rain, and the lawn looks good. I will need to mow at least one more time this year. I think it helped that I kept the lawn longer all summer.
Anyway, my personal opinion (on global warming at least) is that yes, we as a civilization are having an impact on weather, but I don't think it's as pronounced as people would want to believe. The Earth is just in a cycle of warming. It's not like it's currently as warm as it will be when "the elements shall melt with fervent heat", at least not yet. I'll call it global warming then. And maybe that's what it will take for Tara to not feel cold.
Saturday, October 13, 2007
Game Time
Ticket to Ride
Tara beat me tonight by 35 points.
We only played one game so that she could be sure to go out winning...
Tara beat me tonight by 35 points.
We only played one game so that she could be sure to go out winning...
Friday, October 12, 2007
Slightly confusing Before and After picture
My sneakers have worn out. My right shoe has a large blowout on the side of it, the left shoe has a small one. This isn't always fun when it's wet.
The shoes have seen a lot of miles, as evidenced in this picture. I didn't realize how bad they looked until I saw this picture.__________________________________________________________________
In actuality, I went out looking for sneakers tonight. Shopko had a sale, they carry New Balance. I tried a number of them on, but couldn't find any that fit right. Then I found the exact same model and size shoe as the pair I have been wearing for the last 2 years. This new pair, of course, fit perfectly. When I put them on, they were so comfortable. I didn't know my old pair hadn't really been. (OK, they weren't uncomfortable, but the new ones are quite nice feeling.)
Thursday, October 11, 2007
Game Time
Age of Empires
Tonight's game (the return of Thursday night game time) featured a new player - Tom. Tom has been practicing, he's already up to a level 35 home city. Dad, Dave, Tom and I played a free for all game.
Dave attacked me first, so I sent a bunch of dudes down to his home city and pretty much ended his night. Tom attacked me as I was starting to finish up with Dave, so I had to run up there to protect myself before I could finish. Tom seemed to have some sort of fascination with artillery. An annoying fascination with artillery. In the end, he wasn't able to do enough damage with them to polish me off. (Although he got sort of close to getting to where is would be big trouble for me. Tom claimed nap time before we knocked him out. He eventually left the game to get rested for work.
Dad seems to have let the rest of us knock heads with each other before attacking. I figured this wasn't a bad thing, after I wiped Dave mostly out, and started dealing with Tom, I figured it might not be a bad thing to let Dad get a little sleepy waiting for whoever lasted longer. (I call it the East Coast disadvantage. I don't know if Adam has a computer or if he's planning to start in with us, or if he can, but he would definitely have the advantage over in Hawaii...) He had quite the water blockade set up, and his town center had 4 layers of walls around it. As I attacked the first layer of walls, he ran a very large number of dudes up to my town center, right past the dudes I had coming in. This worried me a bit, but I was able to get enough guys collected together before he got up there to keep him from breaking in. Had I not had money, he would have ruined my economy and won. In the end, my non-stop barrage of people into his town was too much for his dudes to handle, I won the game.
______________________________________________________________
Next morning update: We got an honorable mention on the noob's blog...
Tonight's game (the return of Thursday night game time) featured a new player - Tom. Tom has been practicing, he's already up to a level 35 home city. Dad, Dave, Tom and I played a free for all game.
Dave attacked me first, so I sent a bunch of dudes down to his home city and pretty much ended his night. Tom attacked me as I was starting to finish up with Dave, so I had to run up there to protect myself before I could finish. Tom seemed to have some sort of fascination with artillery. An annoying fascination with artillery. In the end, he wasn't able to do enough damage with them to polish me off. (Although he got sort of close to getting to where is would be big trouble for me. Tom claimed nap time before we knocked him out. He eventually left the game to get rested for work.
Dad seems to have let the rest of us knock heads with each other before attacking. I figured this wasn't a bad thing, after I wiped Dave mostly out, and started dealing with Tom, I figured it might not be a bad thing to let Dad get a little sleepy waiting for whoever lasted longer. (I call it the East Coast disadvantage. I don't know if Adam has a computer or if he's planning to start in with us, or if he can, but he would definitely have the advantage over in Hawaii...) He had quite the water blockade set up, and his town center had 4 layers of walls around it. As I attacked the first layer of walls, he ran a very large number of dudes up to my town center, right past the dudes I had coming in. This worried me a bit, but I was able to get enough guys collected together before he got up there to keep him from breaking in. Had I not had money, he would have ruined my economy and won. In the end, my non-stop barrage of people into his town was too much for his dudes to handle, I won the game.
______________________________________________________________
Next morning update: We got an honorable mention on the noob's blog...
Wednesday, October 10, 2007
Monday night football
Last night I turned on the TV, and the Buffalo Bills were channeling their glory days by wearing throwback helmets. I'm not sure what they were trying to prove, since it was their really old helmets, from the 60's and 70's. They were 17-64-3 from 1967 to 1972.
Everyone talked about how the Cowboys we going to bury them in this game. I turned the game on just after halftime, and what did I see? Buffalo was up 17-10. That was one wild game, especially in that 4th quarter. when it looked like neither team wanted to win.
If you missed it, Dallas kicked a 53 yard field goal at the end of the game to go up by a point, except Buffalo called a timeout just before the snap. So the kid had to kick it again. You had 70,000 people in the stadium going crazy thinking the kicker couldn't do that twice in a row, and Buffalo would win. Except he could, he did, and they didn't. Turns out they were channeling the teams of yesteryear with those helmets, they were just off by a couple of decades... I really enjoy this photo of some of the fans in the stadium after the game, for some reason. This just typifies the Buffalo sports fan, I think.
To top it off, in our "ex-OPS center" fantasy football league (for those veterans of the Data Center when Operations actually had a clue what they were doing), I was up Monday morning by 9 points. The guy I was matched up against had Dallas' kicker on his team, and got 17 points out of him. I lost for the week...
Everyone talked about how the Cowboys we going to bury them in this game. I turned the game on just after halftime, and what did I see? Buffalo was up 17-10. That was one wild game, especially in that 4th quarter. when it looked like neither team wanted to win.
If you missed it, Dallas kicked a 53 yard field goal at the end of the game to go up by a point, except Buffalo called a timeout just before the snap. So the kid had to kick it again. You had 70,000 people in the stadium going crazy thinking the kicker couldn't do that twice in a row, and Buffalo would win. Except he could, he did, and they didn't. Turns out they were channeling the teams of yesteryear with those helmets, they were just off by a couple of decades... I really enjoy this photo of some of the fans in the stadium after the game, for some reason. This just typifies the Buffalo sports fan, I think.
To top it off, in our "ex-OPS center" fantasy football league (for those veterans of the Data Center when Operations actually had a clue what they were doing), I was up Monday morning by 9 points. The guy I was matched up against had Dallas' kicker on his team, and got 17 points out of him. I lost for the week...
Fixing dressers
We made the mistake several years ago of starting to buy the Sauder "some assembly required" dressers from Walmart. Before too terribly long, we ended up with 5 of them. The dressers are actually kind of nice, they look nice, have lots of space, and have a thing so only one drawer at a time can open. (So you don't open the top 3 drawers and end up with the dresser falling on top of you.)
There have been a couple of problems with these things. First and foremost is that the girls have way too many clothes, and they stuff the drawers as full as they can, then they stuff some more. This busts out the bottom of the drawers. Usually the bottom gets busted out a little, they shut the drawer, and over the course of the day, the clothes push the bottom out more to the point that it causes problems for opening the drawer beneath.
The thing is on rails, when you are trying to get the stupid broken drawer out, and clothes are falling everywhere, the rails fall off. This is maddening to me for some reason.
I have been trying to get these things held together with the "spit and duct tape" method. (Not really, but I'll try to use screws to keep the bottom in, have to fix the back, all kinds of stuff.) Emma somehow got one of her drawers completely broken a couple of months ago.
The mechanism that prevents more than one drawer at a time opening is kind of sensitive to someone trying to open a second drawer with more than a little force. You could have a shirt sticking out one of the drawers, that's enough to hold the mechanism open. If you don't see it, you can apply too much pressure to the opening of a drawer that shouldn't open. The mechanism can break or fall apart from itself. Lily's dresser used to be closer to a window than it is now, we were always getting curtains stuck in the bottom drawer and holding the mechanism open.
Last week, we had 11 of the 15 big drawers in one state of broken or another. Tara's sister had the same sorts of problems with this dresser model, her solution was copious amounts of Gorilla Glue. I went out on Saturday and picked myself up some Gorilla Glue between conference sessions. (FYI, Gorilla Glue - made from the hair of gorillas, so it's stronger.)
This evening I finished fixing the last 2 broken drawers. We are banking on this working, because I have used enough glue that if the drawers break again, I may start a bonfire.
Sunday afternoon I made Mary an expert at putting clothing away in the drawers. I showed her how to stack her clothes, what level the drawers are actually full at, and talked about the benefits of not stuffing everything in the house into one drawer. She has been sharing her new found wisdom with the other girls. Hopefully it will stick and I won't have to go out in search of a better type of dresser. (Which would likely cost $300 a piece - $1500 just for the girls.)
The dressers would have been easier to fix if I had my hammer. It's at Drew's house. I tried talking several people into bringing it to me, but I guess I need to go down and get it myself from his place. I also need to get my ladder from him, I'm thinking about either finishing the closet I started a year and a half ago, or installing a ceiling fan in the front room. (Just in time for Winter. But who wants to be up in the attic for hours on end in the Summer? I mean besides Drew?)
There have been a couple of problems with these things. First and foremost is that the girls have way too many clothes, and they stuff the drawers as full as they can, then they stuff some more. This busts out the bottom of the drawers. Usually the bottom gets busted out a little, they shut the drawer, and over the course of the day, the clothes push the bottom out more to the point that it causes problems for opening the drawer beneath.
The thing is on rails, when you are trying to get the stupid broken drawer out, and clothes are falling everywhere, the rails fall off. This is maddening to me for some reason.
I have been trying to get these things held together with the "spit and duct tape" method. (Not really, but I'll try to use screws to keep the bottom in, have to fix the back, all kinds of stuff.) Emma somehow got one of her drawers completely broken a couple of months ago.
The mechanism that prevents more than one drawer at a time opening is kind of sensitive to someone trying to open a second drawer with more than a little force. You could have a shirt sticking out one of the drawers, that's enough to hold the mechanism open. If you don't see it, you can apply too much pressure to the opening of a drawer that shouldn't open. The mechanism can break or fall apart from itself. Lily's dresser used to be closer to a window than it is now, we were always getting curtains stuck in the bottom drawer and holding the mechanism open.
Last week, we had 11 of the 15 big drawers in one state of broken or another. Tara's sister had the same sorts of problems with this dresser model, her solution was copious amounts of Gorilla Glue. I went out on Saturday and picked myself up some Gorilla Glue between conference sessions. (FYI, Gorilla Glue - made from the hair of gorillas, so it's stronger.)
This evening I finished fixing the last 2 broken drawers. We are banking on this working, because I have used enough glue that if the drawers break again, I may start a bonfire.
Sunday afternoon I made Mary an expert at putting clothing away in the drawers. I showed her how to stack her clothes, what level the drawers are actually full at, and talked about the benefits of not stuffing everything in the house into one drawer. She has been sharing her new found wisdom with the other girls. Hopefully it will stick and I won't have to go out in search of a better type of dresser. (Which would likely cost $300 a piece - $1500 just for the girls.)
The dressers would have been easier to fix if I had my hammer. It's at Drew's house. I tried talking several people into bringing it to me, but I guess I need to go down and get it myself from his place. I also need to get my ladder from him, I'm thinking about either finishing the closet I started a year and a half ago, or installing a ceiling fan in the front room. (Just in time for Winter. But who wants to be up in the attic for hours on end in the Summer? I mean besides Drew?)
Working from home
Tara was sick today, she called me just after 10 to see if I could come home. I ended up 'watching' the kids while she tried to get some sleep. She has been able to sleep off and on for the better part of the day.
This evening I got a call from someone in town trying to get me to come in for a job interview. She was kind of sketchy on the details, but it sounded like the kind of thing that would involve trying to get people to do financial planning type stuff. I told her I wasn't interested. (Actually, I told her that my background was technical. She started babbling about them having a couple of guys that also helped out coding their application. (She missed the point) I told her I was a systems engineer, and didn't have the sales gene in me. She kept talking, so I told her I didn't think I was interested.
It's kind of nice to have the kind of job where if I need to, I can leave at 10am, work from home, have time to fill my duties in my calling, etc. It's not like I have to run out every chance I get and pick up odd jobs here and there all the time. We might not have all the things we want, but we definitely have the things we need.
This evening I got a call from someone in town trying to get me to come in for a job interview. She was kind of sketchy on the details, but it sounded like the kind of thing that would involve trying to get people to do financial planning type stuff. I told her I wasn't interested. (Actually, I told her that my background was technical. She started babbling about them having a couple of guys that also helped out coding their application. (She missed the point) I told her I was a systems engineer, and didn't have the sales gene in me. She kept talking, so I told her I didn't think I was interested.
It's kind of nice to have the kind of job where if I need to, I can leave at 10am, work from home, have time to fill my duties in my calling, etc. It's not like I have to run out every chance I get and pick up odd jobs here and there all the time. We might not have all the things we want, but we definitely have the things we need.
Sunday, October 07, 2007
Mission Reunion
We went up to my mission reunion on Friday night. The last one was 2 years ago, we tried to go, but the traffic was horrendous, we drove 5 miles in the first hour, so we ended up not making it all the way up there. (We had the girls with us, they were tired of being in the car.) Back then, we decided that the next time there was a reunion, we would leave very early for it, so we didn't get caught in traffic.
On Friday, we left at 4pm. The thing started at 7pm. We took the girls up there, and stopped at The Training Table restaurant to eat. (I always remembered the Taco Salad being better there. It wasn't all that great this time.)
We got to the reunion on time, there weren't nearly as many people there as last time. None of my old companions were there. (I only know where one of them is really. I have conjecture on 3 others, but everyone else has disappeared.) They had their photo albums there, we poked through them looking at pictures, I remembered missionaries that I had forgotten. One of their albums was a thing full of the wedding announcements they had received. They had one there for Elder Sutton, who is getting married in September.
It was good to see President and Sister Snow again, it's been a while. Before we left, Lily had each of them hold her. (She wanted to steal President's glasses.) President kept nearly calling the girls granddaughters, and caught himself. I guess they think of all of us missionaries as an extension of their family...
On Friday, we left at 4pm. The thing started at 7pm. We took the girls up there, and stopped at The Training Table restaurant to eat. (I always remembered the Taco Salad being better there. It wasn't all that great this time.)
We got to the reunion on time, there weren't nearly as many people there as last time. None of my old companions were there. (I only know where one of them is really. I have conjecture on 3 others, but everyone else has disappeared.) They had their photo albums there, we poked through them looking at pictures, I remembered missionaries that I had forgotten. One of their albums was a thing full of the wedding announcements they had received. They had one there for Elder Sutton, who is getting married in September.
It was good to see President and Sister Snow again, it's been a while. Before we left, Lily had each of them hold her. (She wanted to steal President's glasses.) President kept nearly calling the girls granddaughters, and caught himself. I guess they think of all of us missionaries as an extension of their family...
Wednesday, October 03, 2007
New grandpa
Last night, our Stake President's daughter had a little (or actually kind of big) baby girl. He's now a grandpa. This evening, we were running a little behind, Stake Presidency meeting was going to be late. One of the counselors and I went to Rite Aid and bought the Stake President a cane. He seemed to enjoy it. He can't get me back for 15 years or so...
Comfortable shoes
I was up before light on Sunday morning, trying to get to the church to be ready for Stake Priesthood leadership meeting. Everyone was asleep, I didn't want to turn on the lights, I found my shoes in the front hallway, and put them on. After tying the laces, I stood up, and thought about how comfortable my shoes felt that morning, but didn't think anything else of it.
3 1/2 hours later, Tara asked me why I was wearing "those shoes". It turns out I wasn't wearing my shoes, I was wearing Daves shoes.
They were comfortable. I didn't tell Dave until Tuesday, I didn't know if he had some sort of phobia about other people wearing his shoes.
3 1/2 hours later, Tara asked me why I was wearing "those shoes". It turns out I wasn't wearing my shoes, I was wearing Daves shoes.
They were comfortable. I didn't tell Dave until Tuesday, I didn't know if he had some sort of phobia about other people wearing his shoes.
Youth Interviews
We were talking about Youth interviews tonight at Bishopric training meeting. The Stake Presidency was talking about some of the things that should be talked about in Youth interviews, I was reminded of the interview I had with the Bishop when I turned twelve.
The Bishop asked if I lived the Law of Chastity. My answer was no. The Bishop responded "No? Really?" I said "Um, Yes?" I didn't even know what the question meant at the time.
We then talked about what the law of chastity was about. My answer ended up being yes... It amused me, at least this evening, I have no idea if it amused the Bishop at the time.
The Bishop asked if I lived the Law of Chastity. My answer was no. The Bishop responded "No? Really?" I said "Um, Yes?" I didn't even know what the question meant at the time.
We then talked about what the law of chastity was about. My answer ended up being yes... It amused me, at least this evening, I have no idea if it amused the Bishop at the time.
Free as in Pizza
I've talked about stuff that pops up on slickdeals.com from time to time. Occasionally it's something I'm interested in. Less occassionally than that, it's something I'm interested in, could actually use, and have the money to buy.
Tonight they posted a deal where you could get a free medium one topping pizza from Dominos when you order online. (It looks like a regional thing, you have to put in your zip code to see.) I ordered a pizza for pickup, the total price was $0.00, which is a pretty good deal. (I could have gotten delivery for $1.50) I went over to pick up the pizza, the place was going nuts. There were 4 guys ahead of me, 3 behind me, it looked like they had all gotten free pizzas. A number of the guys ahead of me added things to their orders, like dessert pizza and stuff, making the employees even busier. There were a bunch of employees there, so I figure they were prepared for the rush, unlike Little Ceasars a couple of weeks ago. I suppose they are trying to get people interested in the online ordering, and they are making money on it with the additional ordering. While I was there, there were 3 delivery people running in to get more pizzas to go deliver.
Tara wanted a slurpee, I stopped at 7Eleven on the way back. That place was even crazier than Dominos. Lots of people were getting drinks and slurpees, and one dude was well over 7 foot tall.
I don't know what the deal was, at least at 7Eleven, (Dominos was clearly busy from the free pizzas.) maybe everyone was headed out to get some comfort food after the Cubs lost game 1 of their series with the Diamondbacks...
Tonight they posted a deal where you could get a free medium one topping pizza from Dominos when you order online. (It looks like a regional thing, you have to put in your zip code to see.) I ordered a pizza for pickup, the total price was $0.00, which is a pretty good deal. (I could have gotten delivery for $1.50) I went over to pick up the pizza, the place was going nuts. There were 4 guys ahead of me, 3 behind me, it looked like they had all gotten free pizzas. A number of the guys ahead of me added things to their orders, like dessert pizza and stuff, making the employees even busier. There were a bunch of employees there, so I figure they were prepared for the rush, unlike Little Ceasars a couple of weeks ago. I suppose they are trying to get people interested in the online ordering, and they are making money on it with the additional ordering. While I was there, there were 3 delivery people running in to get more pizzas to go deliver.
Tara wanted a slurpee, I stopped at 7Eleven on the way back. That place was even crazier than Dominos. Lots of people were getting drinks and slurpees, and one dude was well over 7 foot tall.
I don't know what the deal was, at least at 7Eleven, (Dominos was clearly busy from the free pizzas.) maybe everyone was headed out to get some comfort food after the Cubs lost game 1 of their series with the Diamondbacks...
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