Michael's Shower

So many habit forming options...

• Audible: books, podcasting, educational stuff
• Netflix: movies, TV shows, educational stuff
• DVR: TiVo/ReplayTV: best of TV?
• ACM: online courses and books

Boy Scout Jamboree

Frankly, I'm glad I am not at the National Boy Scout Jamboree this year. After the four men killed setting up a tent Monday, and the heat-wave yesterday.

Actually, I've never been to one.

Shrek 3?

Now it looks like Dreamworks is doing the Disney thing with a 3rd Shrek movie. Should we expect a Shark Tale 2? Or Return to Madagascar?

Great Morning; Crazy Evening

I woke up to cleaner air. Lately the residents below me smoke every morning. The smell makes it way through the floor. Not this morning!

On the way to work I looked up an email address. I love using the web on my phone. Well, it would be totally awesome if it were broadband. Oh well.

I got a bunch of stuff done at work. By noon it was rather warm and hard to stay awake.

Spent some time at Chuck-E cheese and watched Herbie goes bananas with my niece. It was crazy stuff.

Other sheep

Once we went to some Bbible class. I forget where it was or how we found about it. Anyway, there were about 10 kids and one teacher. She asked the class what they should read. I suggested John 10, so we read it.

When we got the part about "other sheep", I asked who these others were. Even the teacher looked interested. I then proceeded to explain that there were other sheep. I was permitted to share something from 3rd Nephi.

I thought it went pretty well. I'm not sure if it will ever amount to anything. I guess it was well that I tried.

Fairfax family

In light of this post, I just learned that Fairfax county was named after the English nobleman Thomas, sixth Lord Fairfax. (See Fun Facts.)

I discovered the above after learning about John Carlyle and his wife Sarah Fairfax. I knew John Carlyle was famous here in Old Town Alexandria, but did not know who his wife was. This link leads in to the origin of Belvoir -- which goes back to my earlier observation that everything out here is named after someone or something.

"The name Belvoir means 'beautiful view' and dates from Norman times."

Really big Breakfast

I went to Table Talk this morning. I was not expecting these huge pancakes which I ate! I knew it was going to be difficult to put the syrup on so I was being careful, but it still ran over the edge of the plate.

The AC was busted and I was sticky (from the syrup and the humidity). I don't see any reason for lunch today.

I'm always having adventures which is good I guess. Keeps me occupied.

Micron monitor

I bought a desktop from Micron years ago. I don't think they sell desktops anymore. The monitor and I guess this keyboard are the only remnants of the original system.

I got freaked out this morning when I booted up and the monitor was blank. I guess I should look into getting a flat panel or something. Not sure who much longer this awesome screen will last. It's about 7 years old!

I had a minor repair job done to it. The guy took the cover off, did a 30 second soldering job and that was it. Good as new. This was before I had it shipped across the country.

Friendly Paramount

It was good to go to King's Dominion and for ice cream yesterday. Nice warn day. With two friends. Got burned a bit.

Kings is a lot bigger than I thought. Well, last time I went I stayed mostly in the kids area.

It was a good day. I'm sure I'll go back one day and try the rides I missed.

Rainforest Cafe Volcano

Went to the Rainforest Cafe and had a volcano ice cream treat. Here is a copy of the yummy treat.

I had asked a bunch of people just because I wanted to go. After last weeks embarrassing date, I didn't really care who I could get a ride from. I actually went with two lovely natives of Virginia and a cousin of one. It was very fun.

It was also fun that none of them had actually been there. It's a fun place to go.

Three one legged people

I met three people that I can remember that only had one leg. One old lady when I ran into her a second time in Bogalusa. When I first met her she had two.

In Oakdale, our landlord of our old, bug infested pad, had only one leg. I think his name was Mr. Duck. I can picture missionaries had been in that place for ever. The sister's, when they took over the area, got a new place. Oh well.

Then in Baton Rouge, I think, there was a man who laid on the train tracks to chop his own leg off. I thought I had told this story before but can not seem to find it. Anyway, the cartilage in his knee wore out and he got these drugs to easy the pain. He wanted his leg amputated and taken off the drugs because they had some unwanted side effects or something.

More Sprint Qualms

Here is the picture of my new desk. notice no more window?

Anyway, the picture was taken off my new phone. Really poor quality. Oh well. It was a pain to get it off the phone. I finally gave up and used the bloody Sprint PCS feature to upload the file so I could Save As... to my desktop.

palm post

Message drafted on new phone.

HP6 and other stuff

One of the few things about busting my gut (almost leterally) to get to Institute was I got the low down on Harry Potter book 6. I think it was better to know what to expect than being disappointed when I actually listened to it.

I did not want to "bust my butt" to get to the Sprint PCS store to activate a camera/palm/camcorder phone I got off a friend. Currently, both phones are active. I can call on both.... Maybe that will change in a few hours like they hinted to.

I watched Karate Kid recently. I did not remember the soundtrack. Of course, i remembered the "You're the best around." song and others... Good "classic' film.

Zwolle Branch

I have often thought I got moved around a bunch. Maybe I was the bad missionary?

Zwolle was a hole beyond holes. I'm glad I never served in New Orleans, but I don't think it would have been worse.

I didn't feel comfortable at the apartment. It gave me a bad feeling all the time. Well when the elderly couple took over the place a month later, I felt good about visiting. I still had to "patrol" the area my last month because the couple was there to work on less/inactives.

Well, the branch was shut down fairly soon after that. It was weird enough that they met in an old gas station.

Oakdale Branch

As I think about Oakdale, LA, a lot of thoughts come back. I even looked it up on a map.

I remember having trouble with battery on the white Saturn that we had. He left the car running as we checked on a media referral in Elizabeth.

I believe it was the Westigaurds in Glenmora that Mailman liked to hang out at. There is a story about them too.

I remember this punk kid I almost strangled. Was it here that there was a guy who served his mission there and came back to marry some lady in the branch? If so, I think it was here where I got the idea to put Jalapenos on my hamburger. We did a service project at a football game. I forget the school name.

I think there is a Federal prison here too. There was this guy that requested we come visit him. That was kind of weird.

The first few weeks I was there, we kept running down old referrals Mailman never had seen! I took over the "operation" and fixed up the area book, just in time to get replaced by three sisters... one of which was the lovely Sister Cox!

Holy cow! More thoughts....

They branch met in a small white house. It was better than Zwolle which met in an old gas station. We had a "black church" on Sunday when the whites were out numbered that day.

I guess I better stop for now. I could probably go on forever.

Brown Mailman

As I was hanging out with Marty, I was reminded of the Mailman. Not they are all that similar.

Anyway, I was reminded of how obedient Mailman was when I gave him an order. I guess it was all the military training. He claimed he was a Lance Corporal in the US Marines.

Mailman liked to hang out at these peoples homes when they would have us over for dinner. I liked to feel I was doing something better with my time, so I organized all these plans. Well, I tried to keep busy.

One particular day, I wasn't feeling well and all the plans fell through. I didn't want to hang out so I ordered Mailman to drive somewhere that was a short ways away... He did so without question. After about 5 minutes he started to question the order. I thought it was funny it took that long.

I think I irritated him because he told me later that he had to restrain from punching me. Wow, pretty violent?

Yeah, he was violent. Always punching walls... One rainy day, I watched him as he was looking out the tiny window on the door. Without warning, he snapped his head back and cracked the glass with his forehead.

Good riddance

Had to close some posts. I hate junk comments. Oh well, that is what I get?

I was also able to get rid of some old books on CD that I bought and digitized. I sent them to some soldiers in Iraq.

I need to take my new phone in and activate it! This current cell phone acts up too much. Well, it is kind of random, but still annoying.

Silly Man/thoughts

You think some of my posts are silly? I think there are worse things. Why I have such silly thoughts or do silly things? I guess I am just silly.

Anyway, Melia is getting to a really fun age. I enjoy playing with her. Corryn got very jealous when I wanted to take her sister on a walk. She wouldn't let me walk very far.

"OK," Corryn said after about going 100 yards. "We're done. Now take her back home."

I turned the stroller around and headed for the house. I had to catch up to Corryn because she obviously didn't want to walk with us.

As I approached the house, I noticed Melia had taken interest in some leaves. I pulled her out of the stroller and lifted her up to the leaves. Corryn watched for a moment. "How come you don't hold me anymore?"

I put Melia on the ground and picked up Corryn.

I guess this shows how silly it is for me to think to try to please everyone I might have interest in. No matter how hard I try to please one, I loose touch with another. In case of non relatives? I suppose it would be easier to choose if ever, by some miracle, they would show interest in me.

Fun Dinner group

I held another dinner group. I was upset somewhat that no one was on time, but that should not come as a surprise. My phone has issues anymore, I even bought a new Palm phone off a friend... just need to take it in and activate it.

It was a fun group. I'm glad they all could make it. Especially the ladies. I wish I was a hugging type. I could have got hugs.... I just felt weird, because I liked all of them!

Oh well, maybe one day.

There is this "kid" that I know that hugs almost everyone. It's kind of cool that he's so friendly with the ladies, but he gives me the willies at times. I swear if he met a guy that liked to hug, I'm sure they would... and like it too.

I told a few "hug-happy" missionaries that they can just shake my hand. I'm sure they didn't mean anything bad with a hug; I just don't do that stuff to my hurt? (i.e. inhibition to hugging women.)

Fort Ward and 4

Went to Fort Ward and got a tour from a Gunnery Sergeant from the Civil War. It was pretty neat. Going on my own, I would have picked up all that info.

We also saw the Fantastic 4. Honestly, I liked the movie. I didn't have high expectations even before I heard it was not the best of shows. Did it meet my expectation of entertaining? Yes, it did.

I feel a bit guilty for allowing my roommate's girlfriend to clean the apartment. He should have married her a long time ago. I'm glad I left for the above adventures though, to avoid the guilt for a time until I returned.

Places of Interest

Places in Louisiana. I guess I should record all the places ?I had been assigned to to help remind me of stories, I'd like to post about.

Old man day

I had the hardest time seeing while bowling today. It was bad. I didn't even clear 60 points. I always knew I was only getting older.

It was a great day. I was busy at work. Not with building playlist files, but with actual work. As I ate my fudge Sunday by myself, I wondered if my evening would have been more fulfilling had I stayed at work.

I don't know. It was good to go Lost Dog cafe. Wish I could have made it to the Rainforest Cafe for dessert. Oh well, maybe another time.

Silly stuff

My brothers are dumb. well, I pulled some dumb moves myself. Like walking home in the rain. OK, it didn’t rain.

Anyway my brothers go shoplifting in July. Shoplifting is bad enough, but to wear heavy winter coats in the hot summer sun?

I was reminded of the story as I was seeking shade and felt a cool breeze. I noticed some lady with a coat on . In this humidity? What is she up too?

New links

I just added a new link to the navigation on this site and my other site. I did not add a link to my Blogger site.

View Source

It is to weird to listen to the sunny and warm weather report for Utah and to look outside and see rain. It is also odd to hear the time. I did a view source on the silly web page and got the link to directly plug into the streaming media.

I like the music on this station. I guess I might not look into an iPod and iTunes after all. OK, maybe I'll do it right now.

Buckroe Beach

It was not the best of days for a lot of people: the spill on I-95, the back up (traffic because of the spill that ate the road), the bombs in London... I feel my problems were not so bad.

I went to the beach instead of going to work. I was having unexpected trouble getting to my ride's place... I needed to get a hold of her before they decided to leave without me.

I made it! The beach was very calm, probably because we were at the mouth of the Chesapeake. It was over cast so the wasn't much sun. Oh well, we took a scenic route there and it was fun to be the only guy with four lovely ladies.

Just more info on the day:
I was mad that it was so hard to get the place I needed to go this morning. I hit a brick wall. It was pretty uncomfortable on the drive. I was hungry, tired... We almost got hit by another car. I did get burned a bit.

I could have gotten a ride home from one lady I was interested in, but another asked to take me home. I did get an invite to a party minutes after I got home. I didn't know about the party... I probably got an email on it, just haven't read it yet.

The party was good. Talked to a bunch of people, a few lovely ladies. I ignored a few others, because that is the kind of jerk that I am.

Dirty water

The tap water in Bogalusa, LA really did something to me system one day. We were walking around when I turned to Dilrod with an urgent plea to get back home.

I didn't make it to the car. It was very bad.

A Red Alert since that incident has meant the time you have to get to a commode. In this case, less than 5 seconds.

The only other Red Alert I have ever had was in Morgan City. I was fortunate on that day.

Yellow alert

It was bad. Not quite a Red alert, but bad all the same. I suppose it could have been worse. I'm just glad I made it without the humiliating call for help.

I went swimming yesterday and was pretty tired afterwords. I often feel queasy when I am trying something new or going somewhere for the first time. Kingstowne isn't that far out of known territory, but I guess I got a bit nervous I'd be caught in the rain.

Taco Bell didn't help either I suppose. It was tasty going in.

I thought those new grilled crunchy wrap things were supposed to break off in tiny pieces. It was a bit messy to eat too. Oh well, now that I have tried it, there is no reason to get it again.

Wrong bathroom

I related the tale that I had walked in to the wrong bathroom in Gettysburg. They were not very clearly marked.

When asked if anyone said anything to me, I remarked that they were too afraid to talk to me I suppose.

Once while working at Novel, I walked into a restroom, saw someone with really long hair and turned around to leave. I had to check if I went in the right place. I did!

Another Civil War picture

Here is another picture from Gettysburg. These guys dress up every year to take part in the fun.

View image

Union Soldiers from Pennsylvania

Here is a picture of a reenactment that I saw at Gettysburg.

Pretend Michael

I've been replaced by pretend representation. Well, when I can not make it to my nieces place, she pretends that I am there. I wish I could be everywhere... well, almost.

I was glad to go to a ward where I have a repotat5ion of being quite. Nobody talks to me and I have no reason to talk to anyone else. Awkward at times, but better than running into people I'd rather not have to talk to today.

Going to try to get some sleep tonight. I've got to be ready for my road trip in the morning.

Fun: Gettysburg!

I was able to go to Gettysburg. It probably would have been boring had we not walked in on a reenactment charge of the Union soldiers on Little Round Top.

It was interesting to be with people with same values but very different opinions on some things. One thing that came was on ghosts. I don't believe in ghosts as they relate to people who used to live on this earth that come back to haunt people currently living.

I made the comment that if these spirits do not have anything better to do, they are wasting their time.

Week 26

Not sure what the status of 2005 is at. I have gone on many adventures since I started vigorous planning. I have so many more places to go.

I can not wait for my Disney cruise, but I have too. I would like to be able to join my siblings with a family of my own.

These trips have not really helped I think. I mean, I do not care how I get to these places just as long as I get there. (Not a very friendly way to deal with potential friends... Oh well.)