Michael's Shower

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Thought - God's opinion

I enjoy being at work most of the time. In the morning, I am able to start up and listen to a General Conference session via the Internet.

You should know I love my niece very much. Some days I wish she was my own, but I'm not sure I want to bring children in to this world now that it seemingly is going to peices.

- Elder Jeffrey R. Holland qouteing Carl Sandburg in his talk A Prayer for the Children.

It was a good thought.

Tradition or Respect?

As I was reading in 3^rd Nephi chapter 17, I came across the following.

10 And they did all, both they who had been healed and they who were whole, bow down at his feet, and did worship him; and as many as could come for the multitude did kiss his feet, insomuch that they did bathe his feet with their tears.

I have heard this type of reaction before and I thought it was just a Jeweish tradition. These Nephites are closer to being familiar with that culture than others I have heard express that is how they would react.

I have often wondered how I would react. I mean, it isn't part of my culture to bathe a visitors feet. What are my traditions or traditions of today? (As Americans in general? Or rather Americans in the Church?)

Well we have no royal family, so it is not customary to bow. I guess shakeing hands is what is expected. I'm not in the military, so I don't have to salute the president.

I stand when the National Athem is played or when the prophet enters the room. This extends to a judge in a court room.

I suppose I would just stand there in silence. I mean, it would be better not to say anything because all facts are already known. There is no need for justification or too late to repent. I would probably wait for something to be said. If nothing was said I would jesture for a hand shake and ask "What is next? What happens now?" or "Where can I find Abraham Lincoln? or Joseph Smith, I'd like to wrestle?"

League of Extraordinary Gentlemen

Good Entertainment if nothing else. It was totally a Sean Connery film.

I honestly was more interested in the theater. I was AMC like American Movie Channel/Classics? Maybe not. But it was right off the Braddock metro stop. I need to stop off during the day to check the place out.

Feds not enough?

I heard a brief report on WTOPnews.com about the Federal Government is not enough for homeland security. I wanted to read it to make sure what it really said, but was unable to find it.

I think we are doing well to protect the freedoms we enjoy and it never hurts to be prepared for whatever may come, but I feel there is an extreme side of security to be avoided. It’s the price we pay for freedom.

I know some4 people that carry cash or travelers checks on vacations instead of credit cards. I carry very little cash if I can help it. If I get mugged – where is homeland security then? – I don’t loose a whole lot. Credit cards can also be exploited, but it isn’t feasible to hire an armed guard every where I go.

I think more of the proposed money for homeland security may be better spent else where.

What I miss about not working.

1. All the free time to do whatever. I showed my sister the game website I had found months back. She played all weekend!

2. I enjoyed all the opportunities I had to go jogging. Unfortunately, I didn’t take them as often as I aught to have.

3. Ability to take off at a moments notice to do service projects, Temple work, or just catch a movie. As long as I could get to it, I might just as well do it.

4. I also kind of miss the reruns of TV shows like Home Improvement, JAG, or Full House. My newly found “TV” programs are on the Web. So, I suppose I could watch them at work if I wanted.

The other day, I was talking to Gary about this and my many other interests. He asked if I had a VCR. That way I could catch it all.

Well, that still leads to only 24 hours in a day. If I did record Home Improvement, that is just another excuse for me to get out of jogging.

Kevin Bryant getting married?

Kevin Bryant is getting married? Well, I'll be.... It was just yesterday that we went to Los Angeles to go on a real live studio set. So what if I never planned on watching the rather low budget cable show -- which got canceled.

Anyway, I think Kevin is marring into a wealthy family. I t is good, because he's got some expensive habits and toys: motor bike, four wheeler, guns, all kinds of out door stuff….etc.

The young lady is pretty attractive too. Well, I hope everything works out for them.

Zwolle, LA

I never thought I'd never meet someone who had ever been to Zwolle, LA outside the Great Louisiana Baton Rouge Mission. But Gary, at work, has been to a lot of places I have. Indeed it was very neat to talk to somebody about those places I stayed in so many years ago.

Corryn’s carousel

At Chuck E Cheese’s the Marry-go-round was Corryn’s favorite attraction. I think she liked the independence she obtained when she put her own token in and was able to ride. I say this because she jumped off while it was going when someone else put their coin in the machine.

Corryn's new bed.

This is old news, but Corryn got a new bed. I should take a picture of it. Anyway, it is a race car. I thought it was appropriate because she just loves cars.

Everything is in the car when you can't find it. Well, according to Corryn. She loves to pretend like she is driving for real. I can see her behind the wheel during her teenage years…. Road trips everywhere!

Missed a day

In brief:

• We had a pizza and beer party at work. That was interesting. Never had one of those in Utah.
• Got a ride straight to the Mannings. Jeff, from work, is a nice guy.
• Ate the other half of my Subway sandwich. Which I almost forgot I packed away in my bag.
• Tami Harris got her mission call to Tennessee.
• Went to Chukie Chesses with the Olsen's. Great, more food!
• Watched the kids.
• Talked to my sister the rest of that evening. That is the sister I remember. She is totally different when Jeremy is around. I think everyone is better when he is around... Jeremy's awesome!
• Hit my knee in the real shower... taking the curtain down with me.

Rethinking History

At work we were discussing the events of Sept. 11, 2001. I was in Utah at the time and so I was curious to get an account of what it was like out here. We had some interesting conversations afar that.

One idea, that at the time I just blew off because I didn't care. Basically, it was said that how many had to die because the fire fighters were in the way? It started to eat away at me. They are dead, just leave it alone.

I also heard that this committee that was put together to find out who was at fault in the government from preventing such an attack. I believe the results were in conclusive.

What a waste of time? I think so.

What’s my point? I’m not sure. Have a good one!

Time

One of the many things I want to do is learn/do more with Microsoft's .Net Framework. There is just not enough time in the day to do everything!

I downloaded some asp.Net starter Kit projects . I installed one last night to get a fill for it. The code and what not, I mean. It was pretty cool.

The kit was like the intranet site we use at work, for MS Project, a project (time) management system. It's neat because I've only heard about the product.

Like with my task list on my toy, I find it a waste of time to enter them all in, but I recognize the value they provide. Time management can be very helpful in being productive, but on the extreme end can suck the joy of life right out of everything.

Stinky flower

I heard it was a very smelly plant, but it looks pretty. I should go to the U.S. Botanic Garden because it doesn't blume very often. I think watching it from the Internet is good enough.

They had this flower on a new Simpson's episode. It was great to know I am close to the action, although accrording to the Behind the Laughter episode, the Simpsons are from Kentuky.

$0.25 to Eat In?

I noticed at the McDonald’s near London Park, that if you don’t say “to go” they charge you an extra 25 cents! And I thought I was getting ripped off for the price of a large Coke?

Computer troubles

1. A really dumb VB logical error gave my trouble at work.
2. Trillan instant messageing software wasn't saveing my settings!
3. Couldn't get any Windows (NT) Services (that I compiled) to run correctly.
4. Outlook is giving me trouble with the contact list.
5. I noticed that by loosing the welcome screen for security purposes, you can not switch users. Is there a way around that?

Summit or the Park?

Taking the bus every day down Duke Street, I get a good feel for the area. I found where the Ben Brenman park exactly. I found a place where I would like to move to one day.

This place was next to the park, a grocery store, the bus stop, a small theater, and Subway among other things. It looks a bit dumpy from the outside, but I’ve been getting pretty critical of London Park.

There are some new town houses going up by the park. Those would be nice, but it puts me further from the grocery store. I need my sister to look at the place.

Now there is a place called the Summit. It is closer to Giants supermarket. Maybe I should move there. I’m not in a hurry to move, I just like change although it is quite difficult at t times.

The Eternal Ring

It's not the first thing I check out when I come across an attractive lady, but I generally check for a ring after a while. It's a good indicator on how to approach her.

I've heard it described as a symbol. A solid band ring, like a marriage, is eternal. There is no beginning point on a ring, and hence no ending point.

Maybe I'm just so self-conscious I don't have my own ring that I find myself noticing when people are wearing a ring on the left hand. I notice them on television and on the metro.

I have heard some guys just don't like wearing a ring. I can't say I blame them. I can't see myself with one. As long as I got used to a small one, I'd wear it. Just the idea of wearing a bulky piece of metal doesn't interest me at all.

Anyway, it honestly pains me when I see an older gentleman than myself with out a ring. Oh how I don't want to be like him. Is he divorced? What's his story? What's mine?

Disney cartoons

I get along better with Jeremy than my other in-laws. Sure we differ in almost every opinion, but life would be boring if we all thought the same right?

Anyway, I just wanted to state why I thought the Little Mermaid and Aladdin were dumb cartoons of Disney. I liked Lion King the most because I had an emotional tie to the show. Actually, I have/had a few.

I had a girlfriend when I was in grade school and ran in to her at BYU. Well, I was at the University of Utah but went looking for her. When we met, the old bond was rekindled but she ran when she learned I didn’t share her passion for religion at the time. Like I said, I was at the U. To some it is an anti-Mormon school.

I am also drawn to Africa although I doubt I’ll ever go there. I’m not one to go outdoors and with my luck, some giant bug will eat me alive.

Anyway, Little Mermaid was alright. I mean you got some half naked chicks all over that movie! But she is only 16! I guess if I looked like the prince, I’d rock the cradler a bit too.

Aladdin was just some pretty boy like Tom Cruise. I hate people like that. Makes you wonder if they have any problems in life. I suppose if I had an emotional attachment to that, I’d like the show too.

I could have been in Chicago

I was looking at a map of the United States over the weekend. I love maps, but would never admit it until now that I know Brandon Wood shares the same interest.

Maps are cool. They leave hints of many stories to be told. Not enough time to here them all. Who were those people that settled Zwolle, LA and where did they get that name?

Anyway, I could have been in Chicago right now. I was debating on wither I wanted to be close to my friend Ed Stratford or my sister in Virginia. I also could have been in Grand Rapids, MI; Eufaula, AL; or Raleigh, SC had I gotten those jobs and made it through the past years without getting laid off.

I’m glad I came to the East Coast. I just love my niece, Corryn. I would have missed out had I not come here.

Mobil DVD

Since the Mannings didn't post it on their site yet, they just got a DVD entertainment system installed in the van. It's pretty slick. It'll make the long trip to Florida a lot more enjoyable come September.

They got it from Circut City. We watched part of Princes Bride and Little Mermaid already.

Happy Camper!

Thank you:

• The Mannings
• Troy Olsen
• Mom
• Matthew Damron
• Nate Brown

Another lousy floppy

I typed up a pretty good entry last night, but it will have to wait until I can extract it from my laptop. I'm running short on floppy disks.

Brandon Foote got a new job. Has to go to Penn. for the interview and what not. Pretty awesome.

Talked to my Dad last night too. He's awesome. He complained that I never call him. I honestly don't know what he wants to talk about at times.

My parents should be on thier way to Norway now. I want to go on a cruise one day.

Anyway, I get to see Corryn today!!! Should be fun.

Shower Invite

I had to laugh at the response I got from Dan Corrigan, and old friiend from the Center Ward. I invited him to check out my shower. What a strange request!

I am reminded of a Unix command called finger. Basically it is used to look up some user on the network. It will display the user's .plan file.

When my university professor, Joe Zachery, said "... if you have any problems, just finger me.." I knew it was time to create an alias called lookup.

History Notes

Well, my new roommate is here. I'm going to miss the private bath and the spacios room. I really hate that sterio in the living room. I can hear/feel it from my room!

It's been two weeks of daily posts. Pretty nice journal keeping?

Finally, I've been out here for quite a while. Well, three months feels like a lot. Two years - which is my goal for my new job - seems like a long time. Will I make it?

Work History

It is great to be learning and doing so much with Visual Basic 6.0. I thought I was hired for my Visual C++ knowledge though. According to Microsoft and it's new .Net Framework, I am working with old technology. Ah, could be worse.

Unlike past jobs, I feel I have contributed daily to the company. Which is good, for my goal at any rate. It is also a plus to be working with AutoCAD files programably. That's pretty awesome.

Here is a list of jobs I have had in the past years. NA means that there is no method of calculating the length because the jobs involved projects which varied in length and monetary compensation.

The table was created in Excel via Brute Force, and hopefully it displays well in the Shower. I forgot two enteries and added them this morning.

Keep in mind most jobs are part-time only.

It's a lot of jobs, but it is misleading I suppose. I've interviewed with a lot of people over the years. Had some really sweet potential jobs. I often felt it was just me somehow, but the economy is still bad.

Some interviews I often felt like I was being discriminated against. Before my legal corses, I was of the opinion that those jerks would pay, and leave it up to the guy upstairs. After though, I was seriously considering filing with the EEOC.

Anyway, that is getting away from the intent of the post. I need something very solid on my past jobs list.

Ties not the mark of intelligence

I hate ties. I inherited some clip-on ties from my grandfather; it makes them a lot easier to put on, but I still don't care for them at all. They seem to get in the way too much.

I heard once that one result of the down market was that people would dress up to show a sense of professionalism. I suppose this was done to atempt put themselves higher up the totem pole so when liabilities needed to be cut... they would not be tthe first.

I was not impressed in the Systems Administrator's abilities. The tie wasn't helping in that area.

Just beyond the veil

All the talk about life after death in HP5 has always impressed me ever since I heard Jim Dale read the latest book. I never heard this subject really come up except in Church. Especially in the terms Rowling used.

• "You'll see them again."
  
• "They went on."
  
• "Just beyond the veil."
  

It raised some interesting questions about the author's religious views. It also sparked deeper interest in other's views on the subject.

Need my computer.

I had a few posts ready for today, but the floppy disk method is too unreliable. I need my new computer because I have no other Internet access except at work and what my roommate will allow.

Vienna, VA

I used an acronym without defining it. I learned it from CodePlus where I worked for a week when I came out to Virginia.

Proof of Concept (POC) is the next step; I assume, after a Request for Proposal (RFP) by a Value Added Reseller (VAR) is accepted by, in this case, a government agency.

I enjoyed Vienna for the most part. I didn’t like the place I was staying though. For one, I don’t care for dogs. I think if the dog was allowed to clean the place it would have been cleaner.

CodePlus was in a rather dumpy neighborhood compared to the nice office buildings along Prosperity Drive on which I traveled en rout to work from the metro station. The job was that of writing a test plan for software not even written!

What happens 35 days after the POC?

When I got to my first day at OAK Management I was very impressed I got my own office. I than started to wonder if I had gotten in "over my head" with this job. When I got overwhelmed with new information, I was sure it wasn't going to work out.

When I got my picture ID, all I could think was the line "To the pain" from the Princess Bride.

Towards the end of the day I was getting the new acronyms down and was getting the impression that it will work out. "I can do this, I got it." It was just frustrating that I wasn't clear on what I was hired to do. The requirements were just not very clear.

Before I left for the day, the lead developer told me that from my resume he thought I knew everything. "What? Hey - I can do this job." So, the truth comes out. What did they really want me to do?

Zoo

I never thought I would find a crowded place that was worse than a metro station during rush hour. Well, I found it. It is called the Colonial Sigles Ward in Alexandria, Virginia.

Call center for prayes?

If there is a call center to which our prayers go to, is that why it took Enos all day to be able to talk to the Lord himself?

I mean I wouldn't want to listen to repetitious prayers. The front end agents would take the call, record in the database that the prayer matched a previous prayer made or a new one is incoming. On new call that no solution existed in the help database, then the call would be escalated.

The floor manager would analyze the amount of calls and it's content. If he found extraneous issues that he couldn’t handle, it would be escalated.

And so on up the chain.

Omniscient or ability to discover all?

I don't mean to sound blasphemous but I find it impossible to know everything and not believe in predestination. It's my understanding predestination - meaning that on July 13 at 1 P.M. I was supposed to post this – is false doctrine.

One argument I heard was that He knows us well enough that we would do certain things. I don't know if I wholly buy that. And it admits that He doesn't know everything.

Certain events in History I believe where planned out, possibly in detail. But is hard to accept that every detail in everyone or everything's "life" has been planed out in detail. If not planned, I substitute "is known beforehand".

If I was in control, I'd setup a system to allow simple problems to solve themselves. Like the weather. It’ll rain whether it is prayed for or not. I suppose I’d be able to override the system on necessary conditions.

I'd further empower those under my influence to handle prays as a call center. Meaning, I wouldn't hear everyone's prayer. Only those escalated to me, then I could instantly pull up all the information I would need to give the appearance that I knew everything.

So, since I am not in charge am I sorely mistaken that this is not the way it is done?

Sound waves

Is it impossible to feel sound waves? I know it is not, but I think I get or am too sensitive if it is possible to be.

A friend had a little music box and I swear I could feel the sound waves on my finger tips. He tried and tried but never seemed to feel them. Am I just superimposing my knowledge that sound waves existed and that they where traveling through my finger tips?

My roommate was real proud of his new stereo in his car and in the house. I walked away as he gave a demo in his car. When you can hear someone's car radio clearly yards away or in another car, I believe it is just too loud.

I found it rather irritating to listen to the news in surround sound. I told him that I had to turn it down when he boasted on how loud it could go.

As he setup the stereo in the house, I did not like to bass sound waves traveling through me so I left. I suppose that is why I never liked dances. I like to be in control.

Weekend move.

Although I missed my sweet niece this weekend, I had a rather fun day moving in to the other room. Well, I have only made preperations to move.

I was also glad Bryan left his laptop out and had not changed the password. See, my adapter to my PC NIC broke. Or rather a tiny pin is bent. I'd been using Dan's computer.

Dan took most of the day to move out. The room is a lot bigger then it looked with all his stuff in it.

Tommorrow is the big day. I'm going to miss not working at times. I had some real good times. And I must never forget that I had some real bad times too.

USS Ronald Reagan

Commisioned today! I wish I was in the Navy and could serve on this ship.

This image was found via a google images search. It resides on the server specified by the image properties. I wonder if the sky was touched up somehow. It looks rather cool though.

Advantage Home Appraisal, LLC

I was able to develop and deploy my sister's web site (www.advantagehomeappraisal.com)for her company. It was pretty fun, I was glad I could help.

Although most of their business comes from other sources, I will continue to add to the site. With my new job pending, I wonder how much time I will have to presue this.

The site's host offers a wide range of online administrative pages. It makes it very easy, yet I have already seen some caveats. I think the online editing tool reformats the HTML a bit. One thing that I can't explain is why the year is not being displayed. That peice of code was not changed on upload. I did have to pull the file in to the online editor to fix a little typo - that's when I noticed it must reformt stuff like & nbsp - special charictures.

By the way, I'll refer to the the company as AHA for short in the future.

Pirates' life for me.

Disney Magic or Disney Marketing?

I saw the new Pirates of the Caribbean movie. I liked it, despite the few unrealistic points or scenes. I don't think it would make a great movie for little kids, so for us big kids it is a great commercial to visit Disneyland or the Magic Kingdom again.

I kind of thought that this was what the movie would really be about, I mean what can Disney do to rekindle the magic for the ageing attractions. Last time I was in Disneyland, they changed the Robinson Crusoe tree house into Tarzan's in lieu of the latest cartoon.

The trialor for Disney's Haunted Mansion staring Eddie Murphy was shown prior to the pirate movie. I believe that movie will be a comical commercial of sorts for the haunted mansion ride. Good old Disney - good entertainment.

What's next, Cinderella 2?

Lousy doctors

See the USAToday article on the twins who put their trust in doctors to separate them. If you don't read the article, I'll just tell you they died.

It's my opinion that doctors are lousy. They spend years in school and when you finally get in to see them -- which is another reason to complain about them -- it feels like they are just guessing on what to do. Besides, Nurses do all the work!!!

I'm sure there are some good doctors, but most of them that I have met have not impressed me. Arguably, I think I'd be better off had I not messed with some doctors.

I will have to post my thoughts I had before my brain surgery in 1990.

Joseph Smith CDs

I have been listening to The Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith on CD. I have learned quite a bit of Joseph's views.

To learn about what Joseph's life was like (his personality, history, etc.), see Truman G. Madison's essays.

Both are very great to listen too. If you can't get access to it, you can find Joseph's history here.

Pictures of the Park

I went to the park yesturday so I could take some pictures. I have only been able to find the park via a bike path. Now that I got the name of the park, I can find a way to it via the road and a car.

I think my niece would love the place. Especially this.

To view more pictures, see my Scrapbook.

Jonathan's news

I was just told my little brother will be haveing a boy this December. I guess they wanted a girl.

That's great. It'll be my 3^rd nephew!

Institutionalized Education

The educational system has been institutionalized for good cause? I admit it has its merits.

It is possible to teach yourself many subjects, but school provides a rigorous schedule so you are forced to keep up. It also allows learning opportunities from different instructors and other people. Some information not in a book and otherwise I can recall every now and then.

There are a lot of colleges and universities here in the DC area. When I went back to school after I got my degree I felt like I was hiding in the classroom because I wanted to work. On the other hand, some times I feel I could probably stay in school forever.

I saw an advertisement for a local college that provided the needed skills for a career in the new Department of Homeland Security. My sister states an appraisal class is required to prove your knowledge of that field – which is good for the school.

I mean Isaac Newton developed calculus. Abraham Lincoln taught himself to be a lawyer. Bill Gates dropped out of Harvard to start Microsoft. Are these exceptions? Can you get a nice job with out the paper? It doesn’t seem like it for the most part.

HP5 Notes

I started over listening to HP5 again. I made digital copies of my CDs so they will not be ruined.

I got the whole book on two CDs as opposed to 23.

One copy of book 4 barely fit on one CD. The second copy I got off the Internet fits on a CD with book 3. If I knew how to compress book 5 onto one CD, it would nice.

I thought it was strange that Harry had all this time to read those owl posts a couple times during a tense point in the story.

I also noticed that the word mate and bloke are used more than in the first four books.

I still like book 3 the best.

HP5 is great because it seems to join everyone from all the previous books. A lot of history is presented too.

Very good entertainment.

Real Estate Appraisal

I picked up a book Fundamentals of Real Estate Appraisal at my sister's place. I was fascinated with the printed word. (See earlier entry.) It was also interesting that I recognized the following several words and phrases from my paralegal classes.

1. fee simple
2. statute of frauds
3. mortgagee
4. etc

I think I will be reading more about the appraisal business.

The printed word.

I'm not exactly sure why I am often awe struck when reading from a book or off the computer. I find that the whole idea that these markings/letters combined to form words that convey ideas really fascinating. It’s sounds strange, but it kind of beautiful.

I guess because of my rather poor vision, that it is more pleasant that I can see and understand.

I can also see myself, had I lived back during the Dark Ages, breaking in to a church and trying to teach myself to read from the bible.

Education has its merits

After I had put my own header on to the weblog area, I noticed that the navigation bar was not matching up with the main table structure.

I had spent some time over the weekend to add some simple code to allow the navigation bar to be the same width for each new array of tabs.

Anyway, for the blog area, I wanted something better.

Remembering back to my HTML class, there was something that allowed for a variable table cell width. I just tried "width=*" in the TD tag. It worked!

I'm still not sure why it doesn't grab the right link color. I mean it grabs the rest of the styles.

Calling your Home Teachers?

Calling your Home Teachers to remind them to come over is something I'm not sure I agree with. If you really needed them, sure. But if they are so busy that you need to remind them? Maybe you wouldn't want them over anyway then.

Anybody that says they are so busy is often full of something. I would say that you’re just not a priority of theirs. And regarding Home Teachers that wouldn’t be a good thing for some people to accept. For me, it would take a lot more than stupid people to get me to leave the Church.

WinSock 2

I figure I should spend this time before my start date at work to freshen up on my windows socket programming.

I went to the old sockets website I had used in the past. I was very glad to see it was still there!

Nice, things are looking up a bit.

Remote Possibilities

I bought this little handheld, multiplayer remote control game for my sister's birthday. It is basically a quiz game that uses tiny remotes to buzz in when you think you have the right answer.

I’m actually glad I selected this one. I randomly picked this game out of a list that my sister gave me.

It is a very fun game.

Movabletype is awesome!

I tried to add my own header to my blog area. It didn't work as well as I had hoped.

Movabletype is very extensive, and the Administration pages are awesome. It is just a bit confuseing for me what it is doing exactly at times.

David's new boat

I checked my email this morning to find a picture of my brother's new, bigger boat. I haven't quite figured out how to post images yet, so sorry about that.

David himself said he was vain, so I will not argue with him. I just hope there is enough water to take the boat out. Utah, like everywhere pretty much, is in a drought.

Funny I have been in the DC area for a couple months now and it has rained most of the time. Up until the other day, I actually enjoyed the rain.

CIA Factbook

One thing I have noticed in my casual interest in world events. My geography skills have been added upon. I always think I should be more involved, but something else takes my attention away.

During a search for information on Liberia, I found out the CIA publishes a factbook of the world. Here is the link to the main page. I found you can download it at 80 Megs. That's a lot of information!

HP5 and the prophecy

I honestly didn’t care for the prophecy. It is a plot I’ve seen many times and used once in my own story.

• George Lucas’s Willow, the child born to overthrow the wicked queen.
  
• Several biblical stories about prophets that will come for a certain purpose.
  
• In my story, Jupiter, this boy on earth is born that will eventually rule the Galaxy.
  

Scary world we live in.

I just tried to locate some information about a religious group. Got freaked out and closed the browser.

I ran into a lady in Baton Rouge who claimed to be a real witch. Others I met that claimed involvement with the group related some very strange information. I was reminded about the people who find those silly Easter Eggs in those Disney cartoons and often wondered about their sainitry.

I suppose you can make anything look bad if you try hard enough.

Bad Harry Potter?

On a Simpsons episode once –The Simpsons, a source of alarm to some Christians to whom I do not associate with or rather we stay clear of the topic entirely.

Anyway, the religious fanatic neighbor, Ned Flanders, is shown reading a Harry Potter book to his children. Apparently Ned inserted his own comments about how they are all going to hell for practicing witchcraft .The book is thrown into the fire and there was much rejoicing?

It is sad that this view of Harry Potter actually exists. My opinion is that magic is just good entertainment.

There is a quote from Tom Sawyer that goes something like “If all you do in heaven is play the harp and sing praises, I’d rather go to hell any day.” I’ve got to find the quote so I am not giving Tom a bad rap, not that he needs my help.

If it is not Tom's quote I will make it my own and will continue to read more Harry Potter books.

Blogging.

Bloggers must have too much time on their hands. Why would people want to read other's comments?

I admit I don't understand or care for most of what I read off my brother-in-law's soapbox or what I read on Microsoft's Developer Network (MSDN) for that matter. MSDN is of more interest to me, but there are some really deep topics.

Harry Potter book 5 (HP5)

I liked the story although I did not read it. I bought the book on CD because I didn't really want to wait to download it for free like I had the others.

Jim Dale is a very entertaining reader.

Joys of the hunt.

I just got an email from the recruiter about my "new" job. It stated: "Your start date has been moved to next Monday, 7/14!"

I signed a contract stating that I'd start the 2nd of July!

You know, I wouldn't be surprised if they say "Thanks for playing" in the next week. I hate this game and I'll be [danged] if it ever gets better.

My new area.

I figured I'd start to post some of my thoughts. I'll try not to get too personal, but that is why I called it my shower. I'm sure I'll post stuff that is personal and may be taken wrong.

This gives me a chance to put my thoughts into type. I have a million thoughts and would like to extract them easily like using the Pensive in Harry Potter. I'm a slow typist too, so maybe this fad will not last long.

Besides, I am curious to get feedback on occasion. I like to know what I am doing wrong although I know everyone has their own opinion of what is right.