Michael's Shower

Crystal City Shops - More

I was impressed to find a Potbelly's there. I ran in to one of those downtown DC a while back.

There was also a Smoothie King. I wonder of it the same company as the Jamba Juice in Orem. I mean the decor looked the same. Hmm, maybe not the same. There is one in Arlington.

Family of SR-71

As I was perusing the bookstore, I saw a book of interest. Of Interest to look at, but not to buy of course. It was about the family of Lockheed SR-71. Amazing what you can learn.

The A-12 looks almost exactly like the SR-71, the crown jewel. I wonder what the differences are. The book was very detailed; it even had detailed engineering drawings.

There was a bunch of other planes, but the A-12 looked like it the most.

Garfield

I love Garfield. We share a few in common. We both like lasagna and um, that’s about it.

This is one of the only cats that I like. (Heathcliff is the other one.) Well, I do like lions and panthers and stuff, but they are not good pets I would imagine.

Anyway, they are making (or made) a Garfield movie (2004). I think they are using claymation or what ever they used for the Scooby-Doo movies of which I never saw. I might watch the show although I like Jim Davis’s depiction of the cat more that the movie.

Great Day after All

Despite my comical remark, it has turned out to be a great day. I went on a little tour of the area and came back after lunch at Taco Bell and a short stop at my favorite store. I went up top the Crystal City shops, right off the metro stop. Went buy work to drop something off and chewed out the two who were there. “Don’t you guys ever go home?”

I picked up some fun stiff for my favorite niece! Some Crayola stickers, some flash cards to learn shapes – which I don’t think she needs, but she already has numbers and letters – and this Garfield drawing book.

Now, I just wish I had a car…. Oh well.

When I got home, I found a bookshelf in my room that I bought of my roommate for $5. He is getting married and moving to Seattle. My room is less crowded now.

Bloging: a look back

Over 500 blog entries have been made and I feel sad that I'm too slow of a typist. I mean, I put in a good chunk of time to crank out 4 or 5 posts in a day then I notice Dan pumped out 7 or 8 on the same day.

It's kind of unreal January 2004 is at an end. Just yesterday, I was enjoying Christmas with my family. And the day before, the warm Virginia summer weather.

Today, I have no real plans unfortunately. I'm not sure how to go about settings higher goals than my plans to retire in 12 years and immure myself back in my Condo where I plan/hope to live only another 4 or 5 years.

Water Buffalo Attack

Adapted from the Rosco story:

It was a $500 fine for killing a buffalo -- of which the US government had to pay. These payments were made in an effort to keep a friendly relationship with the local villagers because the buffalo was their main beast of burden and the villagers did not take too kindly to their loss.

The Marine’s were on a sweep through the low lands, where most of the farming is done. And it is where most of the rice paddies are located. A typical rice paddy field was about the size of a football field, filled with mud and water. Walking through the mud and water was one of the hardest things for most people to do. You would take one step and sink up to your knees.

Now the water buffalo in that area was, in Doc’s opinion, bred especially to work in and travel through the mud. And. for some reason, training, instinct or a different scent, the buffalos disliked, the G.I’s, As his luck would have it, one took a particular dislike to the 140 pound medic.

While he was laboring to get out of one rice field, Doc became keenly aware of commotion behind me. Turning just in time to see the buffalo start to charge, his first thought was of course to get out of the way. But it wouldn’t do any good; the buffalo was faster in the mud.

Besides, Doc figured that he was worth more than $500; so he pulled out his .45 pistol and fired off one shot. By hitting the buffalo, he only became madder and continued his charge. Steadying his hand, Doc took better aim. The sound of rifle fire came from behind and the buffalo fell in a splash of blood and water at Doc’s feet.

In what could only be considered a mild form of shock, Doc looked to his right to see Rosco. He was standing there with his rifle now at his side, and with his usual smile.

“Thanks,” Doc at least managed to say to him.

“No sweat, Doe,” he casually answered back.

General Dynamics

The other day General Dynamics came up. This company sounded familiar. In fact, I think I interviewed with them in Roy, UT next to Hill Air Force Base.

I remember wanting this job so bad. I remember being told I was one of two candidates to be selected. Or was that L-3 communications? I can't remember. No wait that was Lite Touch?

Anyway, I was finally told the position had not been filled and may be in the future. Well, I never heard back and now I am close to their headquarters. I should call them up and say "Here I am, when do I start?"

Trouble with Friends (repost)

The other day, i got turned down with the following statement. "Thanks for the offer, but I like it best that we are just friends."

In defense of some comments made earlier, I must explain that this lady and I never talk (on the phone…), rarely see each other and obviously don’t hang out with the same crowd. But yet, we are just friends?

Friendship must have a lower status symbol then it appears. I mean the qualifications of being her friend are very minimal. It would mean Ty Detmer and I were friends, although we’ve only met once.

Maybe I have just got too high expectations on what a friend would be. So, if I am to understand the reasoning on why we are just friends, the following definitions must be true.

Friends: Must see each other every now and then. Talking is optional.

Good friends: Must see and talk with each other fairly often. Doing things together is optional?

Best friends: Must “always” see and talk with each other.

Enemies: Not friends? Must never see or talk to each other? Well, that is not necessarily true.

So what do you call some one you don’t like [very much] or not sure if you do, but see every now and then? Well, going back to the lady’s statement, a friend. Liking the person obviously was not an important criterion.

David Kay, My apologies?

Taken from yet another news site - which is still hearsay:

He said that it is theoretically possible in a country the size of Iraq that some weapons of mass destruction may be hidden, but given the ambiguity of the weapons search, that question may never be answered fully. "It's possible that they could be there and we could never find them," he said.

Where can I find the transcript of what he said verbatim? It might change my mind that he is a gay democrat like Wuss Clark.

Why I dislike Clark? I saw few of his commercials and he just comes off as a sissy with his mudslinging at the Bush Administration.

Christmas Island War Room

As I was reading from the Church almanac, I learned of an island called Christmas. How strange, I thought. When looked it up in the CIA fact book, I found there are two Christmas Islands.

I told Gary about my fascination with stories. Our office used to be called the war room. And I wondered what stories could come out of it.

If a picture can paint a thousands words, then a movie can produce millions. Live action emits inexhaustible volumes.

GBLRM: Foil

One day while tracking with Bailiff Nostradamus “Bull” Shannon from Night Court (A.K.A. Elder “Dilrod” Peterson), we or rather I stopped to ask the next door we came to, for a glass or water instead of doing a typical door approach. It was a hot, humid, muggy July day in Bogalusa, LA.

Bull had an obsession with tracking. It was partly my fault because it was my first area and I was told that missionary work was exhausting. Well, the only way to get exhausted is to walk 30+ hours a week. Besides giving away stuff felt like we were accomplishing something.

Well, the lady of the house let us in, got us a drink and said her grandson had a Mormon friend on a mission. We tried to inquire further, but she was pretty blunt that she wasn’t interested but would get us a drink.

As we walked away I memorized the name on the mail box. Some days, like today, I can almost recall the exact image.

Anyway, about a year later in Baton Rouge I believe. I can’t remember who I was with but we went to see a single mother member of the singles ward there. There was a guy at the house and when he heard my name asked if I had served in Bogalusa. When I said yes I asked him why. He didn’t look familiar at all. So naturally I was curious how he knew me.

Ignoring my question for a moment, he asked if I remembered the Foils. I said yes. That was really weird because I only met the lady of the house.

“I’m their grandson,” he said at last.

STL, ATL and COM?

For most people: What the heck is this?

For Microsofties: Cool stuff man, but it is old school. .Net is the wave of the future.

For Microsoftie wannabe: STL is cool, don't know about this ATL COM stuff. CORBA is the way, the truth and the light.

For my education: Thanks UVSC for nothing! Take Java and shove it!

My first C++ class was at the U and STL had not been written yet. I also had to teach myself about COM and ATL. Well, I did have a "advanced topics" adjunct class that was taught by a Intel employee at the time. It was good, but two semesters was not enough for me.

I wish I knew more about all this stuff. Especially when people come to me with questions becuase I at least know the basics.

I'm glad I spent those hours doing what I did to teach myself. I am anxious to delve into all kinds of stuff like Object Oriented stuff in PHP 5.

Duty presses me to conform to the "most people" crowd and find pleasure in less interesting things.

As I was walking into the cold wind today, I again thought about where I would be today if I had stuck with my first decision. I doubt I would like computer stuff, I could drive a car and get out the cold, I might have had a wife or at least a girl friend. Maybe even two. I might have gone down in a blaze in Iraq. Gloriously, no doubt.

I am quite certain the brain surgery was of little value to me and that the Neurosurgeon just had boat payments!

Anyway, I would be just like everyone else? Is that a good thing that I am not?

USA! USA! USA!

I wanted to post my feelings about the latest on the Iraq war and how President Bush responded about the "lack" of information. I was also depressed about this "unipolar world" crap that I just became aware of.

I haven't investigated it fully so these are probably just emotional arguments.

I am glad we went in and kicked Saddam’s butt. If not for any other reason then to set him up as a public example of what to expect if you get on our bad side. That argent view is what mirrors the French’s unipolar sentiment.

I wish I was there at the start of the war. I kind of wish I was there now because it is too dang cold here. It was a given Saddam had to go, and I have no regrets about it.

I still hope some trail will lead us to the WMDs in France’s backyard!

As for David Kay? I think he is being paid off by Democrats like Wuss Clark. They call Bush a liar, but how can they throw the first stone when Clinton was a liar too. I guess they all lie, that’s why politics stink.

All quite night

It was a fairly restless night for the Doc. He saw too many patients and the awfully quite evening was too unnerving. Rolling onto his back, he just stared at the ceiling of the test.

Suddenly, a voice shouted nearby. “Take this you stupid mother.”

A small thud hit the tent and something bounced of the small medicine box cabinets and clattered to the floor.

“Oh great,“ Doc said as he rolled off the cot and onto the floor covering his head with his pillow.

The grenade ripped apart most of the tent. The noise was not to be unnoticed. Soon about five, fully laded marines came to investigate.

“What the heck was that?” Rosco yelled. His heart stopped for a second when he saw the damage.

“I think it was Chaves.” Another said. “I swear I heard his voice before the explosion.”

“Round them up and bring them to the M.P.s”

“Yes sir.”

The four men were off. Rosco frantically searched through the wreckage. “Doc! Doc!”

Unharmed Doc pulled what was left of side of the tent off his head. “Right hear. Thanks man.”

“No sweat. Looks like someone was aiming for the C.O.’s tent but –“

“Got mine by accident?”

Rosco paused to check if the Doc was alright. “They’re going for the wrong guy though?”

Doc’s eyebrow rose. “What do you mean?”

“Taking out the Lieutenant will only bring another.”

Doc agreed, but didn’t support this childish tantrum some homesick marines would pull more often then not.

“It’s LBJ who’s holding this war up. I’m not suggesting you take out the President, but he is no Commander-in-Chief!”

Doc nodded. “What’s this crap about not bombing an outhouse without his permission?”

“I don’t know, but this war will be his undoing. Mark my words. Lousy politicians!”

Mail Post

Doc, how you fellin'? How’s Guam?

I am not sure if you ever met any chopper pilots out here, but they are some of the craziest people I have met.

The other day I caught site of one taking aboard a water buffalo and pushing it out when they were about 50 feet over a rice patty. And you know those are hard to get of, OK maybe not for the buffalo.

I went over to chew them out because that is my job, right? Well, you see, they are some really fun guys, and I just couldn'a keep a straight face about it.

The pilot is named Post. I forget his first name. He's got a fun idea to be a metal shop teacher.

Anyway, I know how you don't like long stories. They asked me if l knew Vietnamese. I do a little bit.

They talked to their C.O.'s who talked to mine and up the chain. Soon, my C.O. comes to me and asks if I want to do some interrogation work.

I agree and next l know, I get assigned to Post's chopper. Like with the buffalo, we take a handful of prisoners up... One guy, who knows more of the language than l, asks a bunch of questions.

They usually don't say much until I throw someone off the chopper. Then they all start jabbering away.

It is kind of funny, really.

Don't wish you where here, but I pray for ya.

Anyway, take care of yourself.

Pals,
  Rosco

Snow Day?

I went in to work today although I hiked to the bus stop in snow. I figured it was better than sitting on my butt at home, like I did all weekend. Plus, I can treat myself for getting "kicked" in the groin yesturday. Well, I saw it coming. Glad it is over!

So far there are only two of us here.

Mormonville

Shortly after 9/11, a date that will live in infamy, I heard about some FBI guys infiltrating a mosque. It might not have been an FBI agent, but I can see why government might want to find out what terrible secrets threaten the Nation’s security.

I’m not playing the blame game because some bad apples claimed the attacks were done for religious purposes. The Catholic Church and others I’m sure, have terrible things in their history. (i.e. the Spanish Inquisition.) But it doesn’t make the whole religion bad.

At any rate, Jeff Call’s book is about how a reporter was paid to basically infiltrate an LDS community. It is kind of the same idea. I mean, I wonder if some agent has ever posed to be a member and tried to find out the dirty secrets.

Probably the agent was disappointed when he found nothing threatening. Besides, it would be easier to ask someone, an active member most likely, what goes on with the Church. Anyway, it sounds like a good book. My sister liked it.

Only Time: Chillins

Corryn isn't getting younger and it is kind of sad. Yet, it a blast to see her grow and learn new things. Soon I might have another niece, but I doubt Corryn will take a "back seat".

I guess that is kind of like what happened to my siblings. Everyone loved David; well Nona got a cabbage patch doll and called it Davey. I never got a cabbage patch doll names after me.

My parents have tons of pictures of David, my sister and myself as little kids. But Jonathan and Matthew were pretty much glossed over picture-wise.

I can't imagine how families with more kids would be. Especially extremely large families, like the Loveridges or the Seegmillers. You would have to rent a bus or something to go on a family vacation!

Importance of Temples

"Every temple that this Church has built has in effect stood as a monument to our belief in the immortality of the human soul, that this phase of mortal life through which we pass is part of a continuous upward climb, so to speak, and that as certain as there is life here, there will be life there. That is our firm belief. It comes about through the Atonement of the Savior, and the temple becomes, as I have indicated, the bridge from this life to the next. The temple is concerned with things of immortality. We wouldn't have to build a temple for marriages if we didn't believe in the eternity of the family. We build it so the family may be eternal. All of the ordinances which take place in the house of the Lord become expressions of our belief in that fundamental and basic doctrine. The temple therefore becomes the ultimate in our system of worship and therefore is of great and significant importance to us" (interview with Vern Anderson of the Associated Press, 20 Apr. 1999).

I have had this quote on my toy for some time as well. I'm not sure who said it neither have I done a search on lds.org

At any rate, I got to share this Ensign magazine dedicated to temples with some coworkers.

Guam II

My mother spent some of her childhood in Guam. Grandpa had some plumbing contract with the military I presume.

A DVD was made recently of some old film taken there. It would have been cool had the sound been recorded. It was fun see. Did Grandpa ever have any hair?

Not on the DVD: My mom sent her sister off on a raft and if I remember correctly, Grandpa had an interesting story in his journal about the dedication of a new LDS Church building there. It involved a miraculous destruction of an old building they were trying to buy, but the local community didn’t want to sell it to the Church.

Salvation

This quote has been on my toy for some time now. I'll post it and delete it from my toiy. I think it came from one of the President books, probably Harold B. Lee?

''Our salvation depends on believing in and accepting the Atonement. Such acceptance requires a continual effort to understand it more fully.''

Guam

It has been a while since I did a post on the Doc.

On the eventful night, Doc pulled himself onto the medivac chopper out bound camp. The closest hospital was in DaNang. Once the chopper landed, Doc got more funny looks and had to find his own way off. It must have been excruciating to drag oneself without help.

Can't they see that I am wounded too? Doc thought.

With the last bit of strength he had left, Doc propped himself up against a pole. By now his right leg was completely numb.

Finally someone noticed and asked if he was alright.

Doc was bandaged up and flown to Guam where he spent a few months recuperating. I nhis own words:

    The next thing I remember I was lying on a table, all of my closes were gone and they were getting me ready for surgery. I overheard one doctor say that the nerve to my right leg may have been cut. That's why I couldn't feel anything.
    They gave me a spinal block so that I couldn't feel anything from the waist down, and off to the operating room I went. They repaired what they could and removed the rest. They also found that the nerve had not been cut but was only bruised. It would still take a few weeks before I could walk without any help. And it was over a month before the wound would heal.

On the way to Guam, Doc had an interesting experince:

    I left Vietnam, along with the rest of the wounded, for Guam. Because I was still unable to walk I was carried aboard the plane on a stretcher.
    We had one refueling stop in the Philippines. When we landed everyone aboard the plane left except me, I was still strapped down. There was a lot of activity around the plane and when a crewman came by I asked him what was going on. "Just refueling," I was told. Why did everyone have to leave the plane? In case of a fire they didn't want anyone aboard. "What about me?' I asked. "Don't smoke," was the crewmen's reply.

Rosco sent him a letter or two about his new assignment as an integrator. Sounded like fun, but the Doc was in no hurry to get back.

Doc was temporarily reassigned to the hospital there, but eventually found himself back in the jungle.

Ben Newell, where art thou?

As I watched the Temple of Doom the other day, I remembered a very old childhood friend. I remember playing, or trying to play (I was never good with games) the Temple of Doom game. I remember the box car ride fairly well.

It was always an experience to go over to my neighbor's house. I remember Ben and his Commodore 64. I recall that he would complain when a game would flash "Please wait" while it was loading and how mad he got that it was taking up unnecessary CPU cycles to display that.

I must tell you that when I watch Lion King, Samba kind of reminds me of Ben too. I mean Samba’s mane reminded me of Ben's wild hair. Ben also got really into computers and such that he went off on his own path and was never heard from again. Well at least by me.

The whole family was odd if you ask me, but this is about Ben.

I remember disliking him in high school. He was a hot shot computer programmer along with James Conrad and his little cronies. In fact, one was the guy I voted against in the dam project.

Anyway, last I heard Ben was in California making computer games.

The real Beauty and the Beast

I think Quasimodo from Disney's Hunchback of Notre Dame would have made a better beast then the one in Disney's Beauty and the Beast

As stated in a previous post, the Beast is an awesome creature. I think he makes a better beast than a man. While Quasimodo is just hideous and he doesn't even get the flirtatious gypsy. Some pretty boy does!

Boy Meets Beast

I just watched a funny Simpson episode from the second season. I am fighting off a cold. Well, I hope that is all. Earlier I was feeling depressed and that may have added to my upset stomach.

There was a line Homer said when Principal Skinner met Patty. "Boy meets beast."

It was a great episode.

I also finished off the bonus material for Indiana Jones. Both roommates were gone. One is getting married and the other went to Ohio for the weekend and here I was sitting on my bumb watching bonus materials?

No wonder I was depressed.

To Blave (repost)

I guess it is love at first site that I don't believe in. For in the Princess Bride case, if Westley had not pestered Buttercup with "As you wish", she might not have ever learned what he was really saying was "I love you". Further, she would not have considered her own feelings

So, love at first sight or even better "love just happens" is bunk. Westley had to work for her to reciprocate. My problem is how much work is too much?

I mean, I will buy into the fact that this is a guy’s world and that he needs to make the first move... but without communication, without a response, without a reciprocating partner, where is the line drawn between work and harassment?

The Rules of Engagement are obviously unknown to me. Some rules are pure bunk. Like the notion the lady is to order less than the guy? It was probably a good thing my parents didn't go to Red Lobster before they got married. My Dad would have raised an eye brow when my Mom would order the whole left side of the menu and eat it a few seconds flat. (Ok, that doesn't really happen when they go to Red Lobster.)

Drop it like a bad habit?

I have always wondered what this phrase meant. I do not recall the missionary who said this. It was probably Helton, he was almost always full of something.

I think he lost the missionary drive when he was released from a calling. He thought ihe earned the right or honor to be a Zone Leader. I wish I had this quote when I learned of this prideful thought. "It is very dangerous for any of us to think we have earned the right to a Church calling."

Anyway, bad habits die slowly. Cold Turkey is the exception.

Perpetual Education Fund

My favorite thing, or at least one, about the Church is that it encourages education. Missionaries go out and get people to read the Book of Mormon or at least start reading their own Bible and stop relying on what the preacher tells them.

The scriptures alone have proved its worth in times past. In fact, one of the first books in print was the Bible. There are countless stories in the Book of Mormon where whole civilizations were either blessed because they had records from which they were taught from and those who ran wild, whose language became corrupt because they had no records.

I thought the Perpetual Education Fund was awesome when I first heard about it. Well, I still do think it is an inspired idea.

I have often wondered if it might bring more jobs to other countries because of cheaper labor. It might, but it might encourage competition and create even more jobs.

Information Age

How did information proliferate prior to the Internet? I seem to still be behind in this Information Age. Take WiMax? I learned about the new IEEE 802.16 standard from Dan’s blog site.

Always Learning?

I read this MSDN article, A Sneak Preview of Visual C# Whidbey. Well, most of it.

I couldn't help thinking that these generic classes are just template classes that C++ has had for some time. Also the #pragma preprocessor directives? Probably have been in C for a much longer time.

Anyhow, I think it is great C# is maturing. Just wish I could program in it for my job.

To Blave

Taken from The Princess Bride script.

Sonny, true love is the greatest thing in the world. Except for a nice MLT, a mutton, lettuce and tomato sandwich, where the mutton is nice and lean and the tomato is ripe. They're so perky, I love that. But that's not what he said. He distinctly said "to blave." And, as we all know, "to blave" means "to bluff." So you're probably playing cards, and he cheated --

I can’t say I believe in true love. Sure I can admit that I often thought I found true love yet it always seemed so one sided. Meaning that I feel head over heals for her and she was probably just being nice.

I was talking with my sister once who told me, in that conversation I believe, that I work too hard for a relationship. Maybe, or maybe I am just playing the wrong game. Or what I am doing is interrupted as the wrong game…

Anyway, she testified to me that love just happens. Not for my sister. If anything just happens for me it is the --- not again! I just stepped in something… Hold on I’ll clean it off,.

Missing History

I miss the History Channel. I often enjoy watching that channel because it makes history more exciting. Sometimes, I guess you could say it comes to life.

I tried to watch something on their web site, but it didn't work. Oh well, I've got tons of tings to do anyway. Ok, not really.

Kerfuffle over web site

My favorite web site got a new look. Now, my screen scrape code is broken. Oh well, gives me something to do.

I was also criticizing my work web site. I think it was done rather poorly. Well, I can see of places to add some nice features. But I am very aware it has little or nothing to do with our business model if I may use that term.

Business Model was one of those terms I heard in association with the dot-bomb era.

NYC

Last night I was invited to a weekend trip to New York City. It was very unexpected. It should be lots of fun.

Last time I was in the Big Apple, it was my first time to the East Coast. All, I remember as we passed though it was the slums. We took a wrong turn... lucky for us someone followed us in because we looked lost and told us how to get out of there.

I feel bad that I do not remember the Twin Towers. I remember looking at the cityscape from Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty, but I only remember the Empire State building.

We went to the statue from the New Jersey side. The statue was a lot smaller than I thought it would be. The San Diego Temple is smaller then it looks too.

Anyway, it should be fun although I already looking at a rather huge bill. The Amtrak ticket has already been purchased.

We took Amtrak cross country on the first visit to DC. What a neat coincidence.

Only Time

I was listening to Enya as I typed up this message. I just watched Raiders of the Lost Ark. It was not as good as I remember, well the action was great but the story was kind of dumb. I guess only time will always change perception.

Seems like all my childhood stars are growing old. Well, obviously. I just can’t get over James Earl Jones and his gray hair

Charlie Brown

I am slowly collecting all the Charlie Brown cartoons on DVD. I just ordered the Valentine's DVDs, just in time for next month. One was created after Charles Schulz passed away; I want to see how it compares. I think the Peanuts are classic.

Told ya so?

When I first saw the headline of this article in SharpReader, I thought about the poor airline industry. They keep getting hammered from all sides.

Then as I read it, I was taken back. What the airline is accused of violating federal law when it turned over flight info to the Feds. Why should the airline have to pay when it was probably the government's fault?

The government would have to pay anyway because the airline would petition them for funding after the trial.

I immediately thought it was to my favorite department. I was reminded that a judge in Utah County predicted something like this would happen. I'm curious to see where this case goes.

I thought I posted this before, about the prediction and all., I guess it was a comment in Jeremy's site that I posted what the judge had told me that the judicial system being slower than the legislative and one day it will catch u[p to it and possibly over turn the beloved Patriot Act.

That is the problem with moveable type; the search engine doesn't look through comments.

Musical testament

Late post: I have always enjoyed music in the Church. I am most often moved when I listen or participate in music. Too often the rather dry talks or classes move me out of my chair and right out the the door.

Today the song I need thee every hour was actually sung for a testimony and for Opening Exercises.

I was reminded that when President Kimball was asked why this was his favorite hymn, he responded "because I do [need Him every hour]"

How much more do we, or just speaking for myself, do I need Him every hour when a prophet said thus.

Music, lyrics included are often orchestrated by someone inspired and qualified to do so. As apposed to a lay member who reads from a manual and his not the power to add to (or magnify) the importance of the lesson.

Of course you get out what you put in. Well, for the most part I would agree.

Princess Diaries

Corryn picked out this movie and when she realized it wasn't a cartoon she didn't want to watch it.

Nor could she get me away from it. I remember her trying to get me to play something else but she was in bed the next moment.

I liked the show overall and I was quite intrigued that Whitney Houston was the producer. I guess I should mention that I had not seen the movie before.

Stupid Phone

Late post: 8 times out of 10, I can not connect to the
Internet. What's the use if I can't get on? I get the feature free for the next few months, but I'm sure I will cancel on it before they start chargeing me.

Maybe the bad weather is blocking the signal today.

Nope, I just checked the Colts were down by 15 at half time. I left Sunday School because they were reading out loud and I didn't want to try to explain I wasn't on the same page.

Looks are deceiving

As l listened to this Sunday School teacher, I had to question the truthfulness of her story. Her supposed demeanor in the story, did not match the character impression.

A week later, I found her belonging to an alleged clique. A really snooty one at that.

I would not have recognized her, for she had a very different look. I overheard her conversation and had to question her to make sure this was the same sweet, "innocent" looking person that would erratically go off on other people as was admitted to in her story.

Yes, I said to myself. I can see that now.

My motto

I told Rachel my motto was "Don't work too hard." She is a school teacher and puts in several hours. She likes teaching which is very admirable.

I look back on how it must have been like for my teachers. I knew Mr. Olsen from 5th grade or so, had two jobs! I don't see how they can do it. Teachers and nurses must be the most underpaid jobs in the world. Ok, depends on who you work for...etc.

Anyway, the truth is that my motto is more than that. I stole it from Scrooge McDuck from DuckTales. It is ''work smarter, not harder."

Cheaper by the dozen

Generally I can blanketly say I don't like Steve Martin's films, but this one was good. I went to see this with Rachel on a bitter cold Fiday night. Then we went to IHOP.

Anyway, Superman from Smallvile is in the show but it wouldn't have made a difference to me if he wasn't.

There were seevel lines that reminded me of Church quotes. It definately was a heart warming Christmas story. Especially the end scene which was all about being home for the Holidays.

Small world, Dr. Jones

I finally got my copy. I bought it through amazon for almost half FYE wanted. (kidding, more like 2/3)

I just hope I get refunded soon for the first order. I messed up on the "shipping to" address.

"Have a sit"?

Corryn was very cute over the weekend. I listened to her as she tried to formulate, or just repeat, the request for one to sit down.

"Sit down, " she stated to say but thought it was too demanding.

"Have a - sit down... Please. um..."

"Have a sit." she finally stated. She was so sure of herself that what she said was correct.

I gave her a hug and said that was really cute. I then tried to explain that next time she should say "have a seat."

I was real nice to Corryn; I didn't tease or drop her at all. Ok, I have never dropped her. I have only tripped once, but she was not hurt. She bounced of the pile of clothes onto the floor but was more shocked by the sudden movement.

Anyway, I think I made her cry at another time because she was already embarssed and I turned her in. I also found myself ignoreing her more than she would have liked, but oh well.

Finally home

Well, I'm finally at my apartment. I have loads to do and little time to do it all. But I guess everyone says that.

Wow, that was a long weekend. Three whole days of no posts!

So dang cold

Why is it so dang cold again? Well, at least we are not below 0°F like those in Maine.

Protecting the Capitol

Why don't we leave protecting Washington, DC to the real department for Homeland security, the Department of Defense?

On Fox5 news, they mentioned that scrambling fighter jets to check out suspicious planes around the Capitol just might not be fast enough. By the time something reaches the 30 mile radius (or whatever it is) safety boundary, it only gives the fighter pilots a few minutes to get in the air.

As I said before, but not in my blog unfortunately, they should place some Patriot missiles or something like it in the area. That way a problem can be dealt with more swiftly.

Bleeding, broken, missing II

Years ago while I laid in a bed 40 plus miles north of the hospital bed my Grandmother was laying in, my family had not ceased to have an adventurous, February morning.

It had snowed pretty hard the previous night. So, my elder brother, David, went out to use the snow blower. As the story was told to me, after about twenty minutes or so work on clearing the driveway had stopped.

I understand David was trying to wrestle with the machine. Honestly, I believe he was trying to clean out the jammed snow when all of a sudden there came a loud crack and a yelp of pain.

Dad was instantly to his feet and his impressions were correct when David came to the door and calmly said. “It is bleeding, broken and missing.”

The tip of David’s middle finger had been snapped off.

Down Periscope (1996) on DVD

I just preordered Down Periscope (1996) on DVD from Amazon. I love that show. It is just too funny. I have a short wait though, because:

This item will be released on February 3, 2004. You may order it now and we will ship it to you when it arrives.

Now, I just wish Tim Allen's Home Improvement comes out on DVD sometime.

Secure Data

I learned of the encryption of folders on WinXP. Pro (Right mouse click on a folder, select Properties. Then click the “Advanced…” button on the General tab. Last option will encrypt the contents in that folder.)

I guess this is really great if someone steals your hard drive and can’t login as you or I would assume as the the administer. The private key seems to be created and stored on the hard drive. See Internet Options, Content tab, and click “Certificates…”

You can export this key say to a floppy, and the files are safe even from you. Well, until you install the certificate, after rebooting, onto the hard drive again. Installing it seems like it defeated the whole purpose for storing it on the floppy.

It would make more sense, and maybe there is an option somewhere, that would allow the user to be prompted for the key, but not install, so you could work on the data and walk away without having to remember to uninstall the key.

It would be totally awesome if that key was on a smart card or protected by thumbprint authentication or what not.

This is another intriguing interest for me to look into security stuff more, but I have too many interests.

Hallucinations

I think Gary is the only I have ever told so far about the strange hallucinations and dreams I had while recovering from brain surgery. It was over 13 years ago now, and I am not so scared about them anymore.

In fact, I don’t think I ever wrote them down.

One such, which looking back, seems pretty funny. The gist of it is that my whole body got sucked into a syringe. I was like inside out, but I still could see and what not. It was weird; there was a whole car lot and some buildings in there too.

Another time I thought my little brother, Jonathan, who was the doctor and my sister as a nurse where standing over me, trying to shove this Blow Pop down my throat. I fought them off and pulled it out. When I came to, my hands were tied and I had a tracheotomy site on my throat.

One time when my parents came to visit, I swear my little brother was there too. Jonathan kept tossing the bean bag up and down and the noise was really bothering me. They kept telling me that he wasn’t there, but I insisted that I could see him.

My Dad figured out what was going on and I think he convinced the nurses to change pain medications or something. I never had weird stuff after that. Unfortunately one nightmare came back to haunt me. It was about some bullies at my junior high school.

Feeding the Missionaries

I told Gary I was having the missionaries over for dinner. I said I was a bad man. I laughed because he thought I was talking about the sister missionaries again.

There is a pretty sister out here by the sir name of Sievertson. She has beautiful, long, blonde hair. We kind of talked once. I think she said she was from California.

Anyway, I told Gary about mission rules and dating and how everyone is freaking out that I would even dare say that I like this sister missionary.

I made Jambalaya, of course, in my new pan. I had everything ready by the time they told me they would be by. One roommate defended them by saying “On my mission, members came second.”

Well, screw that. I can understand that something might happen. I just can’t see the Lord saying that.

About twenty minutes later, I turned to my other roommate and said, “Let’s eat.” He had no problem following my lead. As we were eating, the Elders finally showed up.

“Sorry we’re late—“ one said, but was cut off.

“Come in, Grab a plate….” I was very cordial. Even when the above sister’s name was mentioned, I was nice and said I knew of her. I’m not stupid enough to say I like her in front of the missionaries, but I am stupid enough to post it to the world.

History has proved it really doesn’t matter much what I think though.

Bleeding, broken, missing

"There goes another one.'' Doctor Brown said to the Third class Corpsmen on duty.

''Another one what?" came the reply.

“Another marine trying to get medical discharge.”

Doc Brown frowned and moved toward the window. "Can you really blame him though?"

The corpsman, known as Doc to his fellow Marines, frowned too. “Yeah, I tried to stay in Guam indefinitely after I was hurt.”

“I know, it’s in the report.” Brown acknowledged. “This war is a mess. I have more respect for these men than those hippies back home - or those pansies that fled to Canada.”

There was a pause.

“At any rate,” Brown continued. “This one had some physiological problems, I presume -- but that’s not my training through.”

Another chilly silence, but that was commonplace in the make-shift, mobile hospital unit.

“My motto is if it isn't bleeding broken or missing they are fine. Don’t have time for the mental mumbo jumbo. “

"Bleeding, broken or missing huh?”

"Yeah,” Brown forced a smile. “I used it on my kids too; they really hated it.”

GLBRM

I was an Elder in the Great Louisiana Baton Rouge Mission. I have enjoyed posting some of my Dad’s war stories and decided I should start posting some of my own. Ok, there was a different kind of war going on there, but many souls were lost and yet many souls were saved. Mine? I think I sold it during Mardi Gras.

The COs I served under were the mighty Brough and the stalwart Tueller. In short the first hated my guts and second loved me to death. I didn’t change a dang thing, but the reaction from the two was like night and day.

Lost companions: Ivie stands out the most. He called me once and I lost his number and could never find him again. Marshell, we had a falling out. Wright? He’s just a freak’n Canuck.

Lost love? Sister Lori Cox. I totally should have hooked up with her after the mission, but failed dismally.

Power of Google

The more I use google, the more new features I have found. The other day, I found this address lookup feature. My search criteria was something like “Pizza Hut Orem, UT”

Or lookup the reverse. Have a phone number (801) 224-3888, get the address.

Looking for stocks, try “MSFT” for Microsoft.

Dictionary? Use “define” as in “define test”

Language tools? Translate “Ich möchte Pizza essen.”

Then of course you can browse for News, images, and what not. If you are that board to play roulette (“Felling lucky” or even silly image searches) then you have too much time on your hands.

No gravity

My Dad once joked with me that there was no gravity. Life just sucked.

Over a year ago I felt imprisoned in my Condo. Although the economy is supposedly getting better, it is hard for me to hate my job when I see others still struggling.

What would the world be like if the adage, “doing everything for the benefit of mankind”, from Star Trek was embraced? I don’t Al Quida would buy it. It's motto is death to mankind for the glory of some idol god!

I love commercials

Even I the Colts don’t win the Super Bowl, I am anxious to see what fun commercials they have in store. They have some funny commercials now. Hopefully in preparation for a spectacular show.

I could never get Tivo or ReplayTV . Sometimes good commercials are better than the show I am watching at the time. Besides, maybe they will show me the secret of life.

Enforcing International Law?

I have often wondered how the US would enforce laws such as those found in Title 50 of the United States Code (50 USC X).

In a simular article, it sounded like this guy would not have been arrested had he not gone to Denver for the New Year. This South African Jew was charged for violating 50 USC 35 or the International Emergency Economic Powers Act. I would guess Section 1707(b)(2).

Who tracked down this guy? His activity and the fact he did go to Denver? How much was spent on all this? How can I get a job doing this kind of tracking?

Go Colts! (repost)

I guess I'm a Colts fan now. I was impressed with them when I saw them play Denver in the “Horse Bowl”. Go Colts!!!

Denver was my new sister-in-law’s team. Perhaps it is because her parents moved there. Or she could be a loyal fan from way back when the Bronco’s seemed to win the Super Bowl every year.

I chose the Colts out of spite for that game. Not that I don’t like my new sister-in-law, it was just healthy competition. Someone had to cheer for the other team.

This healthy competition is one reason I cheer for anyone who beats the Packers. After I started to cheer for the Vikings, I found out Matthew, my youngest brother liked Green Bay. I think Matthew is an awesome kid. In fact, you could say I’m pretty jealous of him at times. So, why not support for the other team?

Plural marriage (repost)

I got a strange comment from a Asael Smith, if that is his real name to an earlier post. I just want to say that I do not endorse using this argument to the practice of plural marriage. I just merely stated it because it shouldn’t shock people, in my opinion, that a doctrine did exist prior to the late 1800 AD.

Falsely accused

Well, I was just falsely accused of harassing a [dang] Mormon lady via the phone. I can think of no good theories why this accusation would be misguided. They have caller ID and should know better.

My greatest ally is my cell phone history. On the cell, it only stores the date/time of the last time you call someone. So, for example, say I called this girl several times without having called anyone after the supposed repeated calls, there would be an obvious jump between records on the phone. (It must also be stated I have never called this number before, ever. In fact, I got the number from my roommate about twenty minutes prior to the first and only call. And I have no other phone acess.)

I could just get the whole history list from Sprint, but it is not necessary. Fortunately for me, I called the wrong number before I called her. So, unless it is physically possible to call more than once between 10:00 P.M. ET and 10:01 P.M. ET on the same day, than I would plead guilty.

All I have to say is good snipers, not wannabe Malvo murders, need to know who is in their site, and why before they pull the trigger. In this case, not only is this bi[-o]tch butt-ugly, but she is blind, stupid and clumsy too.

Shenandoah's Pride

I drank some Shenandoah's Pride, LLC chocolate milk for lunch today. It came out of Springfield, VA. I'm a true Virginian now .

Go Colts!

My new team for the Super Bowl. Go Colts! I'm a hard core fan (now).

Kanji@OWOL.bomb

While employed as a web developer for OWOL.bomb, a multilevel marketing scam to snare stupid people, I found myself cut and pasting kanji characters for $20 an hour. This was truly a IHTFP kind of job.

Chicken King

I called my roommate the "chicken king" because it was the second meal this weekend I had tasted that he made with chicken. This last one was some Thai food. I admit it was pretty good.

The real Chicken King was in Bogalusa, LA. It was like KFC only better. The owner, who lived in Sun, LA, let the missionaries eat there for free.

The King's had several goats on thier estate. Each one cost around $6 grand One was called King George, I think. He was a prize winner and cost about $10 grand.

Heber J. Grant online

Cool, I got the idea to listen to the scriptures this morning from my roommate. I should do this more often. I seem to say that all the time.

Anyhow, I saw the new President of the Church book online. Cool, I'm going to read some of it right now before I get my copy.

Great ball of sunlight

I was lying in bed, early this morning, thinking about what great thing(s) I might post. Well, the more daring I got, the more cynical I believe the stories had become.

It comes as little surprise that I was accused of being so negative the other day. Well, I’m no Job nor am I like Brain Ladle. To this end, I suppose I am glad I have not dragged others across the same coals I have been dragged across. And until someone walks a day in my shoes, they can kiss… well, you get the idea.

Everyone has problems and I assume everyone thinks theirs are the worst. Life goes on I suppose, and it is your attitude that determines your altitude. Just don’t look to me as an example.

Small sparks

Several months ago I was playing with Corryn. I was having a blast as I usually do. My life seemed to be heading in a more positive direction. I finally got a job out here in Virginia and I was not to go back home for a while.

I was surprised how quickly my resentment and fury arose after so short an interval. I thought these feelings were gone or buried deep, deep down.

Out of the blue, Corryn pointed to this picture and said “Jesus.”

I can’t explain it, but my blood just boiled. My teeth remained clenched for fear what I might have said. Great resilience and self control was mustered to not reach out and destroy that picture.

Where did that come from? I asked myself.

As I calmed down over the next few minutes, I became again aware of my niece who was sitting on my lap. Shocked by my own outburst and grateful I had not perverted my nieces view.

I am glad to say that will never happen again. Just got to be more like Job?

Hypocrite

One reason I don’t get up and express my thankfulness publically and what not is because I have often felt like a hypocrite 20 minutes after having said my little speech of sorts.

I have a sharp tongue and nor am I great actor when placed in a situation where clearly I could care less about the person I am facing or his interests. Further, I hate when people, whom I assume are poor actors as well, try to fake their way through the conversation with a smile. I figure saying nothing is better than telling the person they are full of something.

Either way, by not acting I feel I come off as a jerk most of the time. And rightly so perhaps. People are afraid of me. Hell, I’m afraid of my own reflection too. Sometimes I really like that fear. People leave me alone. I like that, sometimes.

Anyway, once I got up and apologized for being a jerk. Twenty minutes later I found myself biting my tongue. Probably after it had already torn into someone and ripped out their heart or slashed deep emotional wounds.

A couple years ago, my roommate got up and started going off on how it was a Godsend of sorts that he had the job that he did. A few weeks later, he lost that job.

I can’t say I take pleasure in other’s misfortunes, but I can’t deny (especially at that time in my life) that I was glad too see unfortunate things weren’t just happening to me. However, I could not bring myself to taunt him by asking where his Messiah was now.

Ghosts, Sprits and Demons

I am the last to believe in ghosts and random hauntings. Are there evil sprits that lurk the earth? Yes. Can they be called on through some satanic ritual like a séance? Yes, I believe they can. Not that I have seen any, thank goodness.

Are there good sprits that have visited people? I would have to say yes to that too. Does it happen very often? I doubt it. Have I seen any? No. Would I admit it if I had? Probably not. What would I do if I saw one? I would think it was an evil spirit or some kind of prank and would try to attack it or something.

Elder Anderburg and I were visiting this crazy lady in Walker, LA. Prior to our visit Anderburg and I had conversed on how I didn’t believe in ghosts and the tales of Mormon folklore, I suppose it would be called. Stories like spirts resembling ancient Nephite gaurds protecting the MTC are pretty far fetched. He related to me an experience where he and his father expelled these ghosts, or rather evil spirits, out of this house in Idaho.

Whatever, I know.

Anyway, this lady asked for a blessing. Halfway through, Anderburg put a hand up in the air and commanded all the evil sprits to leave.

OK, I thought to myself. I suppose I can leave now.

Well when we left the lady, she was in the most calm state I had ever seen her. And her place was a lot more pleasant to be in. Maybe that is what I should have been doing more of down there. I swear most of the people I met were possessed or what have you.

My Dad had a story about an experience he had on the boat ride to Viet Nam. It is much harder to excuse stories from my Dad. Anyway, a few crewmen and I would assume officers too, apparently got together for this little satanic ritual of sorts. My Dad joined in because he was skeptical that anything would happen.

Well, they all placed there hands on this table and said a few words or whatever. All of a sudden one table leg shot up, leaving three still touching the ground. That alone would have freaked me out, but my Dad stayed. He related that the person in charge asked the leg a few questions like “Are of God?”

The leg stood still.

“Are you of the Devil?”

The leg shook and danced wildly.

That’s when my Dad left never to return. Freaky stuff.

Cold War Chile

Another point of interest from the museum was that Chile was a key country during the Cold War. I’ll have to double check if I got that impression right, but I don’t know why it would be. Than again, I’ve pretty much written off everything south of the Rio Grand.

Maybe this was it.

Red Scare link

I’m not really sure why I did not recoil when I came across the Red Scare incident at the museum. I knew there were spies and selling or secrets being leaked, I guess it just took the museum to push me over the top.

I never liked post World War II history, especially the whole Red Scare stuff. The more I have been reevaluating it (looking into Skunk Works, the Fog of War, my Dad’s stories, Tom Clancy, “recent” current events and what not.), the more interested I have become.

For, as stated in the last display of the museum: “Intelligence is not about what the world can be but of what the world is.”

Rams are out!

Well, there goes my Super Bowl prediction. Rams lost to the Carolina.

La Tasca

My roommate, Nate, my lost love, Cori, some cool lady, and some attractive, blonde haired lady went to this Spanish restaurant after going through the spy museum. It was a dang cold walk to the place and I was the only one who had no clue what the menu was saying.

Sure, the descriptions were in English but they used words I didn't know for the most part. I ordered something that had chicken in it and prayed it was good. It was a typical expensive restaurant although the bill was about average. I mean, they came out with these tiny plates and like, in my case, two tiny pieces of chicken. The chicken was drowning in some wine sauce. I rescued them and let them dry out a bit.

Fortunately, Cori offered me one of her fried thingies or I would have starved. (Kidding, I just ate this King size chocolate bar... and I still can't get over the fact I ate a whole Large pizza the other night.) So much for that meal, but I guess it was for the experience?

International Spy Museum

• Ability to take my party straight to the museum and not have to wait in a line.
• 10% discount at store.
• A nice pin.
• etc.

First Contact

I thought I should share the first contact of Doc and Rosco. In his own words, Doc said this about his first couple hours in Viet Nam:

The early part of the day had been uneventful and I was day-dreaming when across the valley I was able to see three helicopters approaching. As they all dropped down behind the mountain the sounds of gun-fire could be heard. Quickly two of the helicopters climbed straight up into my view. The third one was still hidden behind the mountain. The sounds of shooting continued. Anxiously watching to see what would happen next, the last helicopter finally emerged from behind the mountain, flipped over on its side and exploded, killing all aboard. Realizing that the war was indeed all too real, I was in a state of complete unbelief when I suddenly felt a hand on my shoulder. I turned to face a big strong, good looking colored marine. He just looked at me, then smiled and said, “Don’t get too relaxed, doe, it could get you killed.” That was the first time I met Rosco and as it turned out we were to become close friends. He was even to become my guardian angel.

Brishopric

I got to talking about how I knew Gordon Lonsdale who was the Director of Photography for the UPN show, Haunted, and how I got a tour of the set in L.A., California.

"Where did you meet him?" I was asked.

"He was the second councilor in the bishopric of the singles ward I was in."

"The Bishop-what? What did you say? The Bishop's a prick?"

"I'm sure some of them might be," I joked.

I went on to explain how a bishopric is made up and that they are the governing body for a local ward or congregation.

"And how did they become part of the bishopric?"

I thought to be flippant and say something like “just lucky I guess” or "better them than me", but I said that they are called by a stake presidency. I noticed that this was more information than was asked for so I moved on to a different subject.

Super Bowl 2004: My Predictions

During Christmas I selected St. Louis to go to the Super Bowl while Jeremy said Kansas City. Today while at the police station for fingerprinting, for my security clearance, I talked with a real football fan and he confirmed my choice of teams. However, his fist pick was the Colts and St. Louis.

New look

I just found out that OAK Management, Inc. has a new look to their web site. Now I could tell Weston that I was right when I overheard one of the executives talking about getting a new look and that Weston's offer to help was not needed.

Geeks are people too

Here is a post from a Microsoft blogger that I often read from. I have heard about the DaVinci Code book from several different sources. I have even mentioned I would like to read it.

Chances are, I will buy the book on CD and listen to it. That way I can talk about the book and get more details from others who read the book, assuming I can only find an abridged version.

ROSCO - KILLED IN ACTION

I got my Dad’s story scanned in last night. When I handed it off to Jeff to see if it could be done on the scanner at work, I questioned why I did not just scan it in at my parents' place. My mother has an awesome OCR scanner.

I wasn’t expecting Jeff to scan it at home, but that was really nice of him. I also wonder if he read the story too. Gary wanted to read it, and I’m sure Todd would too had I told him about it.

Right away Gary noted the part about:

On one occasion Rosco had noticed that I was reading the Book of Mormon and of course asked me if I was a Mormon, I told him that I was and then asked him if he wanted to know about the church. He answered that he did and I was delighted to be able to do a little missionary work. His first question, which did not really surprise me, was about the Negro policy of the church.

I figure my Dad was talking about how prior to 1978 not all worthy males could hold the Priesthood. I’m not sure what the reasoning was for that, but it seems pretty lame now when you consider that there are more members outside the United States.

IHTFP

I was reminded of this story today at work. It was a true story about a guy at my Dad’s work, whom I will call Bob.

Bob walks in to the lab with a plain white T-shirt with the letters “IHTFP” in large, bold, captol letters.

“What does ‘IHTFP’ mean?” my Dad asked.

“Depends,” came the response. “On who’s asking.”

“What if I am asking?”

“It means: I Hate This [Fn] Place.”

“I see, “ Dad indicated politely. “And the boss?”

“I Have Truly Found Paradise.”

Web on the phone

I learned that the crazy Colonial Ward didn't change meeting times with the New Year. I was kind of bummed and was tempted to stay home from Church. I’m glad I went. I not only got to see and talk to a nice lady, but she chose to sit next to me.

Anyway, I wanted to watch the LSU game, but I didn't know when it was. Maybe, I thought, I can find it on my phone like I can with the NFL games.

When I didn’t see the game in the morning, I wondered if it was going to be during Church. Turns out it was later at night and so I got to see the whole game!

I was worried LSU wasn’t going to win towards the end, but to my delight they did! It was the first time I cheered on a team whose QB put his knee down when the ball was hiked to him to kill time...

I went to bed way late and got like 3 hours of sleep. So, I shall get ready for bed now. Goodnight.

DC info

I am starting to believe that everything here in the DC area was named after a person in history. I found this on Van Dorn while in my search to find out where the name of the Potomac River came from. (OK, it was a slight tangent if the course.)

Spoiled Corryn

Although she is only two and has more technology to be spoiled with, it was pretty evident she is spoiled with the Replay TV.

Corryn was very demanding to watch Dora at my parents house were you can't just start a prerecorded episode. When an episode finally came on the air, she wanted to watch it again after it finished.

SolarQuest

I almost thought GalaxyQuest stole my idea. I had another series called SolarQuest. It was about exploring the solar system and that life was found under the surface of Mars.

The Spirit rover would be as was Voyager space probe of Jupiter, an inspiration of the book(s). But they will go unwritten.

Well, book three called SolarQuest: Jupiter was almost completed. About 176 pages, single spaced rough draft remains and was not spell checked. Incidentally that is where Captain Bradock, my nickname with the General, came from.

I wrote it in high school, but started to ask too many questions like how WordPerfect knew to save my document when I hit F7.

Spiderman's habit

I have never been a big fan of this super hero. I'm not too particularly excited to see the second movie.

Anyway, I thought about the lady called M.J. Late in the movie I heard it meant Mary Jane.

Late one night, on a random thought, I remembered “Mary Jane” was a name for a controlled substance.

Spiderman likes marijuana! That would explain why he does all those crazy moves.

Another Stolen Idea

When I saw Star Trek Insurrection, I said in my heart they stole my idea for a story.

OK, not really. My story - which would be book 2 or 3 of the Zem saga - takes place in a futuristic setting like on the Enterprise but it is actually Zem's past .

The story informs the reader how a group of Explores wanted to "get back to the basics" without complex machines and warp drive ... This group set out to colonize this uninhabited planet.

Now, like Insurrection, the younger generation wanted all the technological advances. Their parents' past couldn't be covered up so easily.

Unlike Insurrection, there was no "fountain of youth" and this new planet makes incredible technological leaps and bounds over the centuries.

It would be like watching Earth's history in fast forward. Or in a Simpson episode where Lisa’s experiment goes to the space age in the mater of days only my story was quite a bit slower.

Sky Mall

I enjoy looking through this magazine on the plane. Sometimes it has some really neat stuff I would buy. I saw an invention I thought about making once or twice. Amazing how all my ideas get stolen.

I had the idea for a Tablet PC in junior high school. Too bad I can't prove it. Actually my idea was a mix of Penny's book (from Inspector Gadget) and those cool binders I never could get because my Mom thought they were too expensive.

In defense of the Croc hunter

It is not fair to compare Steve Erwin with Michael Jackson over the dangerous acts with their respective child. The character of the two must be taken into consideration.

Although Steve and his wife are considered crazy (first definition), their daring has provided for some educational and entertaining value of wild animals. While Michael is famous for his dangerous crotch grab... no wonder he is a woman now!

I agree that it was a good experience for the kid to get close to the crocodile although he was probably too young to appreciate it. Keeping the love for animals in the family is not a bad thing. Michael dangeled his kid over the side of the balcony, what was that all about?

Michael Jackson is a freak! If Steve turned himself into a black woman, than maybe I would see a good comparison.

Small hands

Corryn scared me a couple times over the Holiday. The first couple nights at my parents’ house she was sleeping in the room next to mine.

One morning, I had to take care of some business yet it was too early to get up. I snuck out of my room and when I was done, I dashed back. Had I not heard a tiny voice seconds before impact of small hands on my leg, I might have really freaked out.

The second time she got me was when I just opened my door and there she was! It wasn’t so dramatic.

The third time however I was all content in my room, listening to the book. I thought my door was locked so I didn’t bother to roll over to see who was testing the door handle. Then this tiny hand touched my side and I jumped out of bed screaming.

The forth time I was ready for her. The fifth time too, but she wasn’t there. I thought her parents took her upstairs in to their room because she was having a rough night, but I found out later she made it all on her own through the dark of the night. Poor little kid, I think she may have knocked on my door because I told her to if she needed anything.

Rear-Admiral Du Pont

I scrapped my plans to watch the documentary Fog of War because the intel on the location was lost. The closest metro stop was Dupont Circle, where my toy fell out on the metro as I was leaving it. I thought the stop was named after a company.

My toy (Pocket PC) was recovered 10+ miles North at the White Flint stop. I was glad to get it back.

Dupont Circle apparently was named after Samuel Francis Du Pont, Rear-admiral in the US Navy (1803-1865) Well that is what I inferred from the fountain.

I'd never been to the theater showing the movie so I thought I would try and find it. I preped my toy with all the necessary info, but I never made it.

Rough Day

I almost lost my toy three times today! I can not take my toy out with the light jacket ever again!

I know the toy isn't really worth much, but it is not worthless. The data on it alone could be worth more than the toy itself.

Saigon restaurant

I went to a Vietnamese restaurant in Crystal City with my roommate and some of his friends. It was his birthday. I protested against the place when they considered going there. My prejudice stems from my Dad’s bad experiences there in Viet Nam.

I’m not one for sea food anyway, but the lemon chicken was alright. I suppose I might have enjoyed an Asian mission had I been called there. Maybe it would have taken too long to enjoy a foreign culture that is why I went to Louisiana where it is still foreign yet part of the United States.

New Phone: Tetris

Despite the seemingly successful battle with Sprint PCS, I fear the pending bill. Especially now that I have a Vision phone. It is their marketing term for Internet enabled phone.

All downloads I saw had a charge affixed. I tell you these service oriented companies really want to squeeze every dime out of its customers. This being said, I downloaded Tetris thinking the CPU was fast enough to run this. I wonder if they charge it to my phone bill.

Well, like the other applications on the phone, Tetris seemed to be written in Java. Yeah, good old Sun Microsystems! Since I paid for the dang thing, I assumed it was more than a demo. Well when I played it last, I noticed this was my best game and then the application suddenly terminated.

Glory of Java? Or lousy Sprint PCS?

Neal H Moritz

I tried to watch S.W.A.T. (2003) the other day but turned it off after a short time. Turns out the producer made several movies I don't like. So, I can definately say I will not go see Torque (2004). Besides, it looked like The Fast and the Furious (2001) on a motor cycle.

Snow bird

The Word of the Day for January 2 is snowbird, but it is also a place.

I have some great memories of the place, I wish my grandfather would have sold me the large, 2 floor, time share. That would have been a sweet deal.

Tom Clancy

I went to the bookstore today and wasn’t all that shocked to see that "Tom Clancy" is not just a writer. It appeared that the NetForce books had his name on it as creator but was written by someone else.

I then ventured down the Military History section and Tom Clancy’s name jumped out at me. Looks like he did a couple guided tours of military installments like a Carrier.

Another book was called Skunk Works. This book was particularly interesting to me because I knew what this was from the History Channel. The picture on the book gave a good indication of what it was about too.

I knew that Skunk Works was the secret code name of sorts used by Lockheed in building the SR-71 Blackbird for the CIA.

I scanned through the book and was surprised to learn there was more than one SR-71 built. I always thought that it was too expensive to build more than one. I mean you only see one in most pictures. I say most, because there is one picture in the book that shows about 3 or 4 on the ground.

And Tom Clancy knew all this? Then I noticed that his name was only used for marketing purposes.

I did a search on Amazon.com for “Tom Clancy”. I’m not sure why SpongeBob came up. Strange, but I guess after the search exhausted all the results for the whole name, it searched for “Tom” and “Clancy” separately.

Flying to DC

Last time I flew to DC, or rather to Baltimore, there was the big SARS scare. Frankly, I welcomed it although I knew the media was probably blowing it way out of proportion. I almost mocked this lady who wore a mask over her mouth. I suppose I just did mock her.