I’ve been away from blogging for the past week or so because my dad had a stroke last Tuesday. I was on my way to the Sutherland Institute for their environmental forum when I got a call that an ambulance had left my parent’s house.
My dad is doing much better this week and will likely be going home soon. There isn’t anyone I know who is as cool and as stong as my Dad. I’m glad he is going to be able to pull through. It sure stinks to see something like this happen to someone you love.
If anything good can come from this event I’m hopeful that it is a greater education on the part of anyone who sees this post on what the symptoms of a stroke are and a how important it is to get medical help as quickly as possible if you or someone you know gets any of those symptoms.
Lisa and I are complete noobs when it comes to shooting and purchasing handguns. We’ll be taking a class this week that includes some range time and use of several different handguns. Hopefully that should get us off to a good start. If any readers have good advice on purchasing firearms it would be much appreciated.
Here are the handguns I’m most interested in right now. They’re all 9mm. My wife and I will both be practicing with this gun and I want to buy something she’ll be completely comfortable shooting.
H&K P2000 I haven’t fired this yet but respect H&K’s reputation. We want a reliable weapon so this is currently my first choice.
Walther PPS This is a brand new model. That concerns me. My bro-in-law has one we’ll likely be trying out at the range before we make a final decision.
Sig P239 A small gripped gun with a single stack magazine. I’m assuming that will be easier for a woman with small hands to use and easy to conceal if necessary. Am I wrong? I’m tempted to go with the model that shoots .357 sig ammo (also available on the p2000) but that could get expensive.
If anyone has ideas on how I can help make shooting enjoyable for Lisa I’d appreciate hearing them. She’s been very ambivalent about guns as long as I’ve known her. She does want to get one now though so I want to ensure we do things correctly.
Yeah…I’ve got it and its nasty. I haven’t been around everyone’s favorite militant progressive at all lately but his symptoms sound like what I’ve got. It stinks.
Since I’m tired and miserable I’m only going to link to other people today and call that fulfilling my blogging responsibilities:
Bob Rules. Sign the petition.
Paramaphil thinks Sen. Margaret Dayton is worse than Buttars when it comes to stupid racist statements. He makes a great argument. Who would have thought someone would say something even more stupid than the “black baby” comment.
For The People catches Sen. Buttars in a lie.
David at Pursuit of Liberty links to an excellent description of why the free traders are right and Lou Dobbs is an idiot.
Frank Staheli thinks American militarism is expanding in a very real and scary way. As usual he’s right.
RudiZink points out that the legislature is owned lock stock and barrel by real estate developers who would sell their own mothers for a little more easy month. We should spend a little less time focusing on fools like Sen. Buttars and more focusing on the blatant corruption on display daily from the legislature. Thank you WCF.
Utah may have its problems…but our local blogosphere rocks.
For religious reasons I don’t drink coffee or tea. I rarely drink carbonated beverages because they have too much sugar and the bloated feeling I get when I drink them is amplified by the fact that I’m way fatter than I’d like to be. That said, I do drink a Mt. Dew from time to time when I’m feeling run down and need a quick pick-me-up. Yesterday I tried Mt. Dew “Game Fuel” for the first time. I drank it at about 3:PM and couldn’t fall asleep till after midnight. Ouch.
Here is a cool website which lists the caffeine content in nearly every soda you can imagine. “Game Fuel” is new and isn’t listed on this website. For the record it has 73 mg of caffeine in a 12 oz can. For me…thats way too much.
A new kid is a nice way to end the year for lots of reasons! Here’s the video!!!
Today is my first day at a new job. I begin working today as a real estate appraiser for the Davis County, Ut, Assessor’s Office. I’m quite excited about this opportunity and very excited to learn about a completely different area of the appraisal business. Appraising for tax purposes is very different than appraising property as collateral for a mortgage loan. It is always exciting to have an opportunity to grow in your chosen profession and I’m especially pleased that I get to do this in what appears to be a very well run and professional county assessor’s office.
I do have to admit at being somewhat sad at the idea of going back to a regular 9-5 type job. I’ve been working for Advantage Home Appraisal for the past 2 years which means I have been a much bigger part of my family’s every day life than when I last had a regular away from home job. I’m really going to miss being with Lisa and the girls all day long. Lisa is one tough woman. She is now alone in dealing with the stresses that come with raising 2 kids during the day and running a small business. I sure love her and am grateful that she is willing to do all of this so I can begin a new career. She is very cool.
I don’t really have time to blog right now but go read this post to understand the the thoughts going on in my mind right now. Kristine is my favorite writer at BCC (linked above) and she described the thoughts I’ve been having for the past day perfectly. Now I’m going to go to the hospital to be with my wife, my 3 year old and my 18 hour old.
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Here’s whats been going on lately.
The company bought a new car:
It is quite a nice ride. It is the new Accord. Lots of ammenities but didn’t cost the bank. Perfect.
I got a sweet new grill for Father’s Day (I love when Father’s Day comes early!!!) but the fun part was hanging out at Lowes. Lisa and Corryn played in the hammock they had on display. I love that I always carry a good camera with me now.
Now the sad news. Lisa and I have to go to a class in Baltimore all next week and it is too far for us to drive every day. I hate that. Corryn will be watched by her Grandma and Grandpa Damron who are flying out to visit. It sure was nice of them to let us dump our kid on them for a whole week. I’m going to miss her a lot.
Mormon churches are almost always too hot during the first spring warm up. Yesterday was no exception. I found myself listening to the High Council speaker so closely that I’d close my eyes to concentrate on what he was saying. I’d then have wonderful visions of things that were extremely interesting only to feel the punch on my arm bringing me back to reality. At least I usually don’t snore when I doze in church…at least I don’t think I do!
The one thing I couldn’t get out of my head yesterday as I dozed in sacrament meeting was my encounter with the sick pigeon. I went out to the garage on my way to an early* church meeting and there he was standing on the top of our van.
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I’ve just completed my first full week of working for Advantage Home Appraisal (we’re still working on improving the website) full time. It has been exhausting. I really did want to blog every evening after Corryn was put to bed but I found myself at the computer pulling comps on houses to be appraised or doing data entry on houses that had already been inspected. The past two weeks have been our busiest ever. There is tons of work to do and not enough time to do it. Lisa and I have both been really frustrated with the fact that Corryn is being neglected so we are thinking about hiring someone to do some data entry for us so we can spend more time with her. The extra work is a blessing because it means more money but it sure comes at a high cost. It is a good thing I quit when I did.
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OK…it is clear that there isn’t much of a chance that I’m going to be able to do regular entries to this site during the day. The past two days have been busier and harder than any that I spent at FSI during my 6 years there. I have a greater amount of respect and awe for my wife who has been doing this by herself for almost a year now. She’s amazing.
I’m going to try to start posting every night with a rundown of some of the thoughts I’ve had during the day and any interesting events during the day that I want to remember. Sort of like Lileks does but with writing that is far less excellent and that has fewer references to ’40s music.
I hardly remember what I did today. The computer melted last night (actually it wasn’t the computer but the NIC…of course I reformatted the harddrive and re-installed everything again before I figured that out). I spent most of the first half of today getting things running and then the rest of the day working on several appraisals that were due yesterday. We got 5 new orders in today so it looks like things aren’t going to let up. That is good and bad. Corryn had a hard time today. Her dad is home but she doesn’t get to play with him like on weekends. It is as hard for me as it is for her. We are planning on working out some sort of a schedule where I can work in the mornings while Lisa spends time with Corryn and she can work in the afternoons while I get fun time. We’ll see…
I noticed some recent comments on the site are mocking the “no trolls” policy. Stop it or you’ll be banned…then I’ll hunt you down and come visit you…and bask in the hot warmth of the Arizona sun…instead of being here in the damp cold miserable Commonwealth of Virginia. I sure love how green everything is turning but it would be nice if it would warm up too.
I haven’t had a chance to read any of my favorite blogs or catch up on the news. I think I’m going to be behind on many of my interests for the next couple weeks as I get caught up with my new job. I do hope the president did a good job defending continuing the fight in Iraq…it is important. I am betting he came across as a fool though…he has a habit of doing that.
Its bedtime. More tomorrow.
I probably won’t be able to post the quantity of stuff I used to now that I’m working a real job. I decided to put this up this morning between appointments. Work is going well and we are keeping busy. I hope to do a better post this afternoon.
As many of the three readers of this site know…I quit my job recently and my last day is tomorrow. The purpose of this entry is to post a few pictures of things I’ll miss when I leave here:
The Foreign Service Institute of the State Department is a beautiful facility on a very nice campus. I love in the spring to walk around outside during lunch or my breaks in this pretty place.
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Lisa, Corryn and I had lunch at my favorite Arlington Deli today. As we were getting out of the car a guy protesting for homosexuality (he didn’t really have any discernable message other than homosexuality isn’t bad) marched by dressed in a black flowing robe and devil horns. He was yelling things like: “HOMOSEXUALITY IS DIVINELY INSPIRED!!!! PROMISCUITY IS OF THE DEVIL!!!”
He was actually pretty funny. He was on his knees preaching to a couple at one of the outdoor tables when we were waiting to pay for our sandwiches. By the time we made it back outside he had gone…I guess to go find other congregations. Here’s a very bad picture of the guy marching in front of the store.
I like living in a place where stuff like this happens.
Well…it is a little scary but I think it has to be.
I will be self employed in two weeks. I resigned my position as a contractor at the Foriegn Service Institute today. I’m going to work for Advantage Home Appraisal.
I’ve been an Appraiser Trainee since November and have been planning on doing this since long before then. We just had to wait until there was enough business to justify it. There is now enough business that this is no longer something I want to do but clearly this is what I have to do. Lisa can’t do all of the work we are getting by herself and she is ready to start being a mom again.
I plan on using this opportunity to go back to working on my education and improving my resume while doing as many appraisals as possible. Hopefully business keeps up after interest rates begin to rise from the all time lows they are at now. I think we will do alright…we’ve picked up many new clients over the past few weeks.
Wish us luck…and if you know anyone in Virginia who needs a home appraisal please let them know about us!!!
