Michael's Shower

Moving Days

i'm still in between housing. The evening in DC was alright. I did enjoy the sparcely populated WWII monument.

Depressing news from the South. What will be the outcome of all parties effected?

The end of the world is near? I think we haven't even begun to see the worst of it.

Don't worry. Be happy.

Dinner in Baton Rouge

I was just going to modify yesterday’s post, but since I don’t have one for today…. It was not until I talked to my Mom that I recalled my parents had met Dain’s mother in Baton Rouge as well.

It was funny that Marline, was good friends with a former bishop of the Orem 5th ward.

On a quick tour of the area recently affected by Hurricane Katrina, my parents went to dinner with some Baton Rouge residents. We probably went to Outback.

FM 100

I listened to Dain and his mother this morning. It was pretty fun.

The Same Address

This topic came up again recently. I feel bad for rising gas prices. Well, I feel bad for those who have to pay because they are driving my sorry butt around. I'm glad I do not have to pay for my own gas on top of a car payment.

"It's a double edged sword" I concluded. If I did have a car, I'd be driving my sorry butt around. Anytime, anywhere.

Funny, also in this post, I talked of going to Hershey. Well, we went on that trip. That group is now meeting in DuPont Circle for dinner or what not this Wednesday. Should be fun.

This might turn into a quarterly event: the trio meeting together to enjoy each others company. I'm going to suggest we do the Mt. Vernon candlelight tour over the Christmas holiday.

LOC card

I don't think I will shut my computer down again. This time it looked as if it would not come back up ever. I wanted to order some pizza.... yeah, I didn't want to go out and get something. I need to go to the store.

Anyway, I got a library card to the Library of Congress. It was a fun tour and I spent some time with a pretty blonde... No, it was not my niece.

I watch Gremlins. It was a good Spielberg movie.

Long await

A lot has happened. Well, Wednesday was long and boring... no reason to add another melancholy post. Thursday, I was busy. I don't exactly have a date for the weekend, but I shouldn't be alone.

My toy was restored to life; I thought I had a post on it's death but I could not find it. I was going to get rid of it when someone offered to fix it. I still want to get rid of it.

Looks like I am moving next month. The neighbors smoke so much I have to open the window ever morning around 3AM just so I can sleep peacefully. My roommates are being themselves so it is time to slam the door. Besides, I'm looking to move to a better place... wish it were with a woman though.

Incredible inside joke.

I thought this was funny. Pixar makes fun of an old boss. See the link.

Export shower

Minus the images, exporting this blog only took 1 and 1/2 Megs of data! Entries: 1344 Comments: 418 - only one floppy disk of junk? I suppose it would be larger if I could type as fast as I can think and had the desire to do so.

I had to export so I can save it on a CD for posterity? Yeah, what posterity? I pity the one who reads it. Actually my real journal is rated PG 13 or even R... might be more fun to read?

I like looking up old entries at times. It is so much easier to recall digital format. I kind of wish I could output my brain storage to my hard drive so I can review it, publish the cool stuff, etc.

Battle for Endor

I'm glad I watched this Ewok Adventure first. Caravan of Courage put me to sleep. Maybe that and because it was kind of scary is why I didn't really remember waching it when I was a kid.

Burl Ives naration of the Caravan show also was very silly. I was expecting the Ewoks to breakl out inb some Christmas song.

Lucas could have made tons of these Star Wars themed movies and I might have liked them. After episodes I-III of the saga, I feel no remorse to bury my love for Star Wars in the past.

Small hands II

My attention was brought to this post. My oldest niece is not small and cute anymore. Well, not as small ans cute as she was a few years ago. The younger niece of mine, is at the age where she is small and cute. I thought it was funny she was afraid of this dog. I don't blame her, I hate dogs myself.

Anyway, things don't stay the same forever. Oh well.

One day I might look over this post and recall the feelings I as I typed it in.

Crusader's Hymn

I just wanted to demo this for personal reasons. I just wanted to show you can play a play list. Click on the play button. It will play two versions of the song. One without words and one with. It is linking to lds.org. I could have done some fancy Java-Scripting stuff, but that was not the point.

I like this song, Beautiful Savior. I especially liked the Mormon Tabernacle recording I had. Well, it was recorded off the radio, but I still liked it. It had bells and everything...

Anyway, I wonder why it was also called Crusader's Hymn. I like how this page described the song. The recording, although lacking in quality, was "a very majestic piece. It starts quite simple, but becomes more complex as time evolves."

Sunshine in my Heart

Like most films about LDS culture, the Singles Ward was kind of lame. The soundtrack is weird too granted, I don't mind listening to few of the songs.

One song, There Is Sunshine in My Soul Today, reminds me of a satire solo by a missionary in my mission. His Heavy Metal rendition was not the same as this movie but it was still quite funny.

Anyway, just thought I would share this.

Great Falls

It was a fun weekend overall I thought. I was able to go to Great Falls and meet some friends of the Mannings. I was surprised at my own daring climbing over rocks. Actually, I was more worried my niece would hurt herself. I thought it was actually kind of fun, should have brought better shoes than my worn out sandals though.

Oh well, as expected a mess was left for me. I'll be quite amazed if it is clean by morning, because I'm not cleaning it. Maybe this post will be read by then?

Had dinner and a birthday party out near Harper's Ferry. It was fun.

Camp Maple Dell

I was kind of surprised I had not done a post on Camp Maple Dell. No, it is not a Marine installment.

This is a Boy Scout camp. I went there many times. Mostly about a week every summer and a couple nights during the winter. I remember one year I went from being the most dirty scout (at a Timberline Training camp) to the cleanest scout (at Maple Dell). That was because Maple Dell has a pool.

There are many stories I can tell. I would just have to think about it for a while. It has been a very long time.

Bog Monster

My father told us a few stories about a bog monster. Unfortunately I forget the details. I think I tried to elaborate on one of his stories in grade school. I found this article on bog people. So a new twist on a future story would be that the monster was actually a person who came back to life after being buried for centuries...

Weird.

Camps

I looked up a few things, just for fun. I just wanted to correct what
I said, not that you are interested I'm sure.

I had heard, or just assumed Camp David was a Marine instalment, but it is not.

I also thought all Marine instalments were prefixed with "Camp", like
Camp Pendleton in California, but I guess that is not the case.

Maybe the military changed some names because I thought all Army
instalments were prefixed "Fort"; Marine "Camp"; Navy "Port"; and
finally Air force "Base" but according to the link that is
not necessarily the case.

What DASH needs more of

A long time ago, I was going to post something to the effect that this is what DASH needs, but according to the picture they are starting to put indicators on the back of the buses. It was a pain to run to the front or side of the bus to see what bus route it was going. I like these rear indicators.

[View image]

Macy's water

I went into Macy's to get a new belt. My favorite belt broke. I saw these Macy's brand water bottles. Unbelievable. Everyone can sell water; maybe I should too.

View image

Good writer?

My attention was brought to this blog. He writes very descriptivly although I admit, I occasionally read from it.

I am often criticized, by the only reader perhaps, for my lack of detail in my posts. I admit I have a history of "confusing the issue", I guess. If a good writer is one who takes the time to "hold the reader's hand", then no I am not a good writer. I just want my thoughts recorded.

I agree the way one practices writing is the style they will stick with. So, the more I "mislead" the reader so I can get a snapshot of what I am thinking, the less of a good writer I will be. I know what I have written... Most of the time.

Mighty D

No I am not talking about myself, but I did some cool stuff the past few days. I got to get on my soapbox for a time.

I watched Mighty Ducks this evening. I like the show.

The image of the young Gorden reminded me of this Jones boy when I saw it years ago. I remember helping my Dad with a scout camp and the Jones boy and I tended the fire one evening as the troop was out for some ceremony.

I wonder what we talked about. I'm sure I wanted to ask about his sister. I probably did. I was never really in good with that family and honestly there were days I did not want to.

The Curse of the Were-Rabbit

I thought it awesome that Nick Park is doing a Wallace & Gromit movie. I loved the short films he did and Chicken Run.

This 94 minute movie which comes out October 7th, 2005 probably took forever to do. I heard it took about 2 hours to get 3 seconds of footage for the Chicken Run.

Google Earth

I finally got around to running the Google Earth tool. While looking over the Whitehouse, Iraq, Sydney, my home town, the Salt Lake temple, Forbidden City, ocean floor contours, and other various places, many thoughts entered my mind. I wish I had this when I was a kid, I wish I used current satellite images all the time. Looking over my shoulder, I thought I better pick a new target than the Pentagon. Someone might think I'm a terrorist.

After being awestruck at how small the world is and all. I started to think how sad it was that satellite images are pretty much used by both sides: protection and invasion.

I suppose if there was peace on the Earth it would be pretty boring. Look at 4th Nephi. 300+ years pass away without any events.

On the story

I went to this CNN thing with a couple friends yesterday. I tried hard to find a date for this, but it was just as painful as trying to find rides. Well, it turned out no one got a date for it... so I didn't feel too bad.

I wasn't sure what to expect. I don't really like the media, but was curious all the same.

As I was talking to a friend that had gone to Kirtland, the subject I was after walked into the room with her sister's and her Mom! It was quite the coincidence and I was very glad to see her. I got her number finally.

Dukes of Hazzard

Although I thought the TV show was lame last time I saw the it (10 years ago), I feel it was tons better than the movie. I was expecting it to be dumb. I was not however, expecting it to be crude and vulgar. I would have liked it too. As far as it being dumb, it met that expectation.

Now, I'm kind of anxious to see the TV show again. The "bad guys" were a lot funnier in the series as far as I can remember.

Well, I almost walked out of the movie, but I stayed. Where else would I go? Besides, I paid to watch Jessica Simpson. How lame can one get? She's not that pretty anyway, in my opinion.

Google runs on Linux?!

I thought this was interesting.

Photo: Google's Chris DiBona by ZDNet's Dan Farber -- We do odd things to the Linux kernel to have it perform the way we want it to. With other operating systems it's not as easy and we have to ask permission. We don’t like that. -- Chris DiBona, Google's open source program manager speaking at LinuxWorld

Raid at Cabanatuan

I'm gong to watch the Great Raid. Not sure if I'll wait for the DVD.

See the history.

Carbonated Prune Juice

I had heard once that Dr. Pepper was made of prune juice, but according to Wikipedia, "Contrary to a popular urban legend, Dr Pepper does not and never has contained prune juice."

Where did this legend start? What was it exactly?

I just thought it was funny that it had to be clarified.

Thoughts, more on

Lately I have heard a lot of "Thanks for the invite" messages. I often question if that is the new way of telling me off. I can't also help to wonder if I were the Liar, or the General if I'd get such treatment.

I watched Home Improvement yesterday. It was an episode where Tim's wife was having surgery. I don't recall ever seeing it before. It was "to be continued..."

It got me thinking of all the great times the Taylor family had together... it was supposed to be emotional. Now they were going through a crisis...

I have a few friends with kids and I hate to think of all the good times I'm missing... I expect, if I get married, a good 40% will be all hospital scene type stuff. Death bed marriage is the last resort?

We love our customers?

I went back for my pants; it was a nice clear morning. I did pay because I'm a nice guy. I should have ripped off the paper on the hanger that said "We love our customers" because it was obvious they do not.

I've got a head ache. Last couple days I haven't seen my roommates. I know at least one is around, because they leave a mess every day... I saw a light on last night for a time too.

Anyway, I signed up for this Labor Day trip. It is something to look forward too although I think it will be lame in some ways. Oh well.

Alexandria power outages

I read this email this morning. It is a day late, but I wouldn't have gotten the message because we were without power for a while.

The City of Alexandria is experiencing power outages as a result of the brief thunderstorm that occurred at about 1 pm. Currently, there are about 7,600 residential and business customers in pockets throughout the City without power. Power to traffic signals has been disrupted which may cause traffic delays in effected areas. Dominion Virginia Power is working to restore power and estimates that service should be restored by 6 p.m. There have been no reports of injury or damage as a result of the storm or the power outages.

BoM playlists complete

I finally have the playlist for the Book of Mormon built.

Patience...

I made the mistake of buying these expensive pants a few months ago. I think it is the first time I spent $80 on dress pants. Well, the suit I got once was more than that but it included two pair of pants and a jacket.

Anyway, I took them in to this shop near by. The lady spoke broken English. I think she is Japanese.

I felt I was charged more than I might have been had I taken it to a department store, but in all honesty, I haven't been charged yet. I thought she said the first time it was free... good promotion? Besides, it is convenient to not go to a department store.

The second time I went back for the pants, I was OK with it not being ready. If it is free, hey that is great... Take your time. I went back 30 minutes ago because that is when she told me to come. Big surprise not finished.

I was biting my tongue. Images of mushroom clouds came back to me... The other day was like the 60 year anniversary of the atom bomb drop. Should have dropped more, I thought.

"When can you come?" she asked.

I'm here now, I thought. Give me my [dang] pants!

"Come back at 5."

"If it is not raining or if I'm still around, I'll come by." I growled. "Or I'll come by in the morning."

I stormed off. I need to stop swearing when "no one" is around.

When I go there tomorrow, I'm going to take my pants or something else and walk out - ensuring that it is free!

That's all folks..

It is good my niece liked Porky Pig and the other Looney Tunes gang. I really hate crappy-doo and a lot of the shows she likes.

For my benefit, I wish I could get to go walking more. Lately our walks have been really short. Maybe it was just too hot.

Oh well, as always, she is a smart kid. She just pretends way too much. I felt bad for saying that I don't like to pretend. I don't want to stifle her imagination.

Camera Phone

The quality of the image is not the greatest, but the camera is good for surveillance. Take for example the shot of were the ghetto grocery store used to be.

Join the Colonial Ward

New shirt

Well, I'm glad I went to Institute last night. I got a new FBI shirt among other great insights. Sure there were those that I just wanted to pummel, others I wanted to hook up with, and I can't forget the others I probably bugged.

I got a CIA shirt last week. I'm going to try for a Secret Service one and others. These are not the cheesy letters, but the actual seal or logo.

I'll have to get rid of some clothes. Especially before I move.

Some times I hate being right

Why some good things don't last is probably needful. If good things never end, you would not appreciate them. I wonder if some people I met last weekend were only nice to me because they knew it was only about 24 hours they had to put up with me.

It wasn't my place to comment on this lady's plans/hopes to go on a mission. Oh well, I knew she would not call.

As I listen to the D&C, I could not help to feel how different I am from the early saints. Those people really listened and their faithfulness is strong. Here I am almost passively listening. I have never been asked to give up all that I have. I'd like to think I would.

Kreider Farm

I started craving chocolate milk and so I went to Dutch Touch for lunch. They did not carry any Shenandoah brand, but they had this new one from the Kreider Farm. It sounded like a German name and it was from Pennsylvania. I wondered if it were from the Amish in Lancaster County.

It was a good drink. Now, I need to go there. Well, I want to go to an Amish thing anyway. I did see a few on the trek to Kirtland.

Week 31

I went to Kirtland over the weekend. It was fun. I think I emjoyed the people I was with more than the place itself.

I also got to see my friend Jaelan Petrie on the big screen.

As always, I had many thoughts that went unrecorded. Oh well, I'll have to get as many as I can written down soon.