Christmastime in the City

Strings of streetlights, even stoplights blink a bright red and green.
Last Sunday, a group of us, instead of going to our stake choir concert, we went to the provincial legislature (or lege) so enjoy the lights. I felt much more Christmassy after last weekend. Between baking to my hearts content, singing carols at the international airport, Christmas songs at church, and this, well. My heart overflows with excitement and joy.

I’m sorry Melody. This picture was just too good.



Better than this one. My initial thought was to just chuck this one but then I noticed that the focus and color are just perfect. And really, what is not funny about a picture of an elf’s bum.



The crèche in the lege pedway,



Okay I do have strange friends. Apparently Natalie here can make her stomach growl at will. Here she is demonstrating.



We also serenaded each other from lofty... lofts.



And then there’s the pretty lights.


And the pretty tree.


This one’s for you Locke.


We wish you a merry Christmass. What’s a figgy pudding?


And aparently temporary blindness is really fun. I’ll have to try that sometime.


I am going to have a tiring and merry week. And then a relaxing and merry week. I hope you have a merry week as well.

Merry Christmas!

Sont les mots qui vont tres bien ensemble

The In-Between

I'm sorry to wax philosophical here.

It started with a comment about the great place when we hear good news for the first time and when we hear the details. And then I thought about how we really don't see the world continuously, but see events as they come and go. When you watch TV you are really just seing a series of still images, and our brains fill in the space in between, but if it wasn't for that space, it would just be a mess.

And then I had an epiphany; The space in between is where the magic is. It can't be measured, it can't be held, because if you look at it too closely it disappears. But that's where everything important happens. It's in these places that faith and hope have their power.

And so what is to be done? I suppose the only thing is to enjoy it. Stop living in the future, or the past, or in this place or that. The present is the space in-between. It is everywhere and everywhen. It's where the magic is.

this should be our time

Epimetheus, Prometheus

They say hindsight is always 20-20. I suppose this is true. After the failure of the liner in the last post, I took it on myself to see exactly why it didn’t work. After asking some questions, and crunching some numbers, I came up with this.



I know this really doesn’t mean anything to anyone so I’ll just put it like this: The red is bad. This is good to know, and it will be good to know that we can check things so that bad stuff doesn’t happen again. Hindsight is a very good thing, but it would be cheaper and, well, better if I could have seen this coming before hand. The trouble with experience is that it generally has to be gained the hard way.

It’s a short post today. I’ve got stuff to do.

Peace out.

the future's here today

This is Why I'm so Tired

Many of you may have noticed that I am a little more mellow and/or distant lately, you haven't seen me around as much. You may think I have a girlfriend you don't know about. Unfortunately this is not the case (though I do pine...)

Well I will let you in on my very long day yesterday/today

Yesterday morning, I wake up at the late time of 8:30 (this is quite late for me) and start making cookies, One of my true joys in life. I scarcely had time to pull the last pan out of the oven before rushing out the door to go to another great joy, singing. Yesterday I Coristi, which I am a member, had there second recording session for our CD coming out next year. It was fun, this is a good group of people, and not as blurry in real life.



The day included 4 hours of singing (and sitting around between takes) and a potluck lunch, which was very good.

After this I went to my sister’s house to help my brother-in-law in the basement (he is finishing it for my sister to live in). It looks slightly better than this; this was last week, I didn’t take any pictures this week.



I went home to rest for an hour and to change, and then, At 7:00pm, I went to work. “Why?” you might ask. I’ll tell you. We were installing a manhole liner. I was there for both phases. If you’re interested in what I do for a living, read on, if not, I won’t judge.

Phase 1 is preparing the liner. The liner is simply a giant fibreglass sleeping bag, with a zipper down the side and a narrow part at the top.



Inside the liner they put a bladder, like a giant balloon. This is use checking the liner for holes and partially turning it inside out. Fun stuff.




Then we wait for the people preparing the actual manhole to give the go-ahead on putting the resin on the liner. We wait because the liner has to go into the hole within 2 hours of starting to spread the resin. To keep us from getting resin all over, we wear these white jumpsuits. We looked like..., well we looked funny anyway. But it’s a good thing, because that resin gets everywhere, and it doesn’t come off.



I have no pictures of spreading the resin because we were all working furiously once we started (that whole time limit thing), plus my hands were covered in the stuff and I did not want it on my camera. We started the wet-out at 11:45 and finished at 1:10am

Eventually we got it all soaked in the stuff and loaded onto a flatbed trailer. A couple of guys rushed it off to the site. I cleaned up and followed in my own car.

I got there just as they were putting the liner in the hole. It went in very quickly, so I don’t have any pictures. I forgot to mention that they top the liner with a thing for pumping the air into and monitoring the pressure. It has windows as well to visually monitor the process.



So they filled it up with air and then things started to go wrong. The bottom of the bladder broke. This is very bad, because the liner has to be pushed firmly against the side of the manhole. After a heroic attempt to fix it by one guy who went down into the hole, the guy in charge called an abort and we had to pull the liner back out. This is what it looked like going in as well. The epcor guys had to move the power lines.



I stuck around until 4:30am when I decided there was nothing I could do but get in the way. I was tired. The worst part is we will have to try again. I have some ideas for making it better next time, which I suppose is what they’re paying me for.

So that’s why I’m so tired. I sort of wish it was because I had a girlfriend.

When the the things that make me weak and strange get engineered away

Bona vita mea est

My life is good. When I woke up this morning this is what I saw out my window.

Now, not everyone likes snow. I know some of you would be fine if you never saw the stuff again in your life. Not me, I like it, even when it means that I’m greeted by this when I go outside:


I am pleased to introduce you to my new vehicle (name pending, definitely needs a girl’s name though). She is a 2008 Nissan Versa Hatchback and I am very excited, even though I’m once again poor. For those who know me, I don’t really like driving. This car is changing my mind.

This morning was the end of Daylight savings time. I very much enjoyed the extra hour added to my rest, but I thing that DST should be abolished. The people that track this sort of thing noted that the effect of the time change on energy usage is negligible for Albertans. I say we join with our friends in Saskatchewan in not doing this anymore. Did you know that on there are more traffic accidents on the Sunday of the time change than on any other SundayÉ. Okay, why does my question mark come out like thatÉ I think someoneès been messing with my keyboard
But I digress. I took afew more photos this morning that I think youèll enjoy. Okay this is ridiculous.


It was Stake Conference today


It may be clichè, but I like pictures like this.

You’re not a land mine, you’re not a gold mine, no, you’re not mine at all

Mild-mannered

So some of the recent comments have heraled me as some sort of superhero. I am flattered, but unfortuneately I'm not so much. But in spite of this I wanted to do a post on the subject.

First a little lesson on the subject. Superheroes come it four main flavours, with some mixes.

1. Mutants. These are otherwise ordinary humans who develop powerful abilities due to some mysterious mutation. Spiderman, The Incredible Hulk and any of the people with powers on the show 'Heroes' fit in this category.

2. Mystics. These are people who draw their power through some arcane knowledge, or a magical artifact, or some orther mystical power. Mystics include The Shadow, Wonderwoman, and most heroes in mythology.

3. Mechanics. These people use fabulous tools to augment extrodinary, but still human, mental and physical fitness. Mechanics include Batman, Ironman, and James Bond.

4. Aliens. Fairly self-explanitory, strangers from another world. Aliens include Superman, the Green Lantern, and others.

I apologise for the pedantics, I suppose it's not so necessary, but I think the important thing is for all these types, there has to be some sort of sacrifice. Mutants and Aliens feel alone more than usual because they have trouble relating to others. Mystics usually pay some sort of spiritual price for their powers, and mechanics have to fully appreciate their own mortality, and yet still put themselves on the line. Power always comes with a price.

So the usual question for people is what one super-power would you choose. But I would ask, what price would you pay for that ability? I guess I'll ask both.

As for myself, I'd consider two abilities. The first ability is precognition. This is difficult because to know the future is to be trapped by it. Better would be the ability to perceive the consequences of choices. The price for this one is actually pretty clear. It is to study history. History repeats itself, so when we know what has happened in the past, we can predict the future better.

The second ability would be telepathy. This also has a cost. It is to become interested in other people. In order to know what others are thinking, one has to really want to know. Then we try to find out about other people, to empathise with them, and really get to know them. Then we can almost read their minds because we can hear the words that they don't speak.

So am I willing to pay the price? How about you?

Peace out.
Rock on.

Drive the car and always get the girl

M.I.A.?

Ah my friends, I am not forgetting, I am very busy though. I like being busy. For example this morning I left for work at 6:15 and got home this evening at 6:15. Then I went home teaching. So now I'm home, and while I could be doing other things, I want to enter something in the blog.

For those of you who don't already know I have a job now. I work at a company called IVIS that does sewer inspection and relines. I have a hard time describing what I do at work but I think I've been hired as some sort of miracle worker. It's fun, but long and tiring.

Last weekend was the Turkey Trot as most of you know. I participated, and despite being in worse shape, I did slightly better than last year. The rain was good.
And afterwards the annual Chimichanga Turkey dinner was fantastic. Congratulations to JAS for making this year another success.

The weekend before was my dear sister Sarah’s birthday. It was enjoyable to spend time with family as always. As if a good omen of the day, I took this picture. There was another just two days before that was even more spectacular, but I did not have my camera with me. It made me smile much.



Tomorrow I get to spend the whole day singing. It should also be fun. Next weekend is Conference/Thanksgiving. Will I ever get a day to just relax? I hope so. I also hope I see you all again often and soon.
Peace out.

I know when it's a dream

Dream Along with Me

This week’s ‘interesting people’ comes with a topic. My friend Amanda has gotten into the habit of remembering her dreams on a regular basis. I don’t even remember what she’s told me, but if you ask her you will be amazed at the detail of her latest dream.



Amanda also has a way with words. If you are ever looking for a new word to add to your vocabulary, talk to Amanda. She’s got language and knows how to use it.
But I’d like to talk about dreams for a bit, and since I can’t remember any of Amanda’s dreams, I’ll relate the one I had last night.

I was stranded on an Island somewhere, although it wasn’t a tropical island, more like a sub-arctic island. Anyway, the people there had apparently shipwrecked or crash landed or something, and had reverted to a more primitive lifestyle, much like the YSA. There was some sort of leisure center on the island (maybe something like the institute building).

Anyway, the people had adopted a particular method for courtship on the island. The men would run down into the water, catch fish by whatever means they could. Then they would run back up to where the women were, smack a woman with the fish and carry her off. I had no fish, and therefore, no luck with the ladies.

Now apparently there was another way to be impressive on the island, and that was to find a piece of the shipwreck on the other side of the island. Now, even though I don’t like swimming in real life, I’m very good at it in my dreams. I can hold my breath indefinitely and even sometimes breathe underwater.

Well some jerk was taunting me to jump into the water where the shipwreck was, but I didn’t want to. So he pushed me in. I responded by pulling him in with me. When we got to the bottom, this jerk tried to hold me down underwater. I didn’t really understand the point of this because, well, I can hold my breath forever down there. That’s where the dream ended. What does it mean?

Besides being able to swim like a fish, there is another recurring ability I have in dreams. I run like a wolf or a dog. A dog runs by pushing off with both hind legs, catching himself on his front legs, and then swinging both hind legs underneath his body for another stride. That’s how I run in my dream, and I seem incapable of running any other way. I seem to be able to run very fast like this too.



So tell me what you think. Am I crazy or normal? Share your dreams with us.

They must have said it at some point

This comic made me think about quoting famous people.


Yogi Berra is confirmed to have said “I didn’t really say everything I said”, meaning there are many quotes attributed to him that he never said, or at least doesn’t remember ever saying. But I decided to come up with a list of quotes that people must have said at some point in their lives. If they are foreign it’s even easier because of the translation leeway.


Here goes.
“This is less than ideal” – Julius Caesar
“That’s not kosher” – Moses
“I hate this hat” – Al Capone
“I have the worst headache” – Abraham Lincoln


“And then it struck me” – Isaac Newton
“Now I’ve seen everything” – Magellan
“Again?” - Brigham Young
“This is boring” – William Shakespeare
“I’m hungry” – Gandhi
“I’m cold. Let’s go home” – Leif Eriksson
“What time is it?” Thomas Edison
“We’re out of milk” – Bill Gates
“Eureka! – no wait” – Archimedes
“What do they want?” – Darius I

I mean, they must have said it sometime – probably not in any sort of profound context, but still. What other quotes can you think of? It’s fun – use it in conversation. In the words of Socrates “You should try this.”

Now it's over, I'm dead and I haven't done anything that I want

Or I'm still alive and there's nothing I want to do.

Occasionally I get in a strange sort of mood. Sort of an impatient mood where you feel like something is about to happen, and you can’t do anything until that thing happens. Does anyone else ever feel like that?

On today’s edition of interesting people, I would like to tribute Sonja Hoag. Undoubtedly one of the most colourful characters that I have ever met, she is the heart of any party, and generally just a good person.

In my defence I did not take this picture, someone was playing with the camera. I have much more damning pictures.

I’m not sure when I first met Sonja. I think it was when she lived with my sister, but I could be wrong. I blame my muddled memories on drugs; I wasn’t taking enough of them. But I digress.

Sonja is one of those rare individuals that can say anything and make it sound fantastic. To give those who may not know her (though I don’t think anyone who doesn’t know her will read this) a glimpse into the linguistic abilities of this wonderful person, this is a recent entry into the church bulletin;

Does anyone remember the time when Harrison Ford used to move his lips whilst talking? He definitely did as Han Solo but by the time we fast forward to Firewall (don’t bother if you haven’t already) he no longer possesses the ability to move his lips when he speaks. I don’t understand how that comes to be. I’ll blame 6 Days, 7 Nights. It was a tragically weird movie that only cast dear Harrison in a really odd light. I think after watching himself in theat movie he must have whispered in his heart of hearts, “I’ll never love or move my lips again!” Speaking of Harrison though, Fugitive was great. It will still be great when we play it with Highlands on Monday night 7 pm starting at the Institute.


I honestly think the bulletin announcements are Sonja’s favourite part of her calling as FHE leader. Although I think she also enjoys the reverence and awe (awwwwww) that she inspires in the youngsters in the ward.

I’m not entirely sure what she does at work, but as far as I can tell from her stories, it involves large amounts of bodily fluids and old people. I guess that what makes her a nurse. Seriously, if you’re ever eating dinner with Sonja, do not ask her about work until after you’ve finished your pasta.

For her shear amount of knowledge of things, and her insurmountable home-spun wisdom, Sonja Hoag is a shoe in for the MVF (most valuable friend) award.
Not enough can be said about Sonja, and I must be finishing this, so tune in next – something, for another exciting webisode of INTERESTING PEOPLE!

Oh, and Harry Potter was fantastic. Anybody else finished it?

I hope that I get old before I die.

I hope everyone had a wonderful Canada Day weekend. Mine was fantastic. Here’s why.
Last week Grandma Ellis turned 80 years old. We (and by ‘we’ I mean my Aunts and Uncles) decided to throw a huge party for her. There were 126 of her closest relatives, including children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren, nieces and nephews, etc.



She really doesn’t look 80 if you ask me, and she can still run circles around many people my age. I suppose I should write something about her. Audrey Racher was born in 1927 near Champion Alberta. She joined the church when she was 18 (though she’d been going to church most of her life). She married Jim Ellis later that year (although he wouldn’t join the church for another year after that) and moved into the farmhouse where she’s lived ever since. She raised nine kids, my mom being born in 1948, and my uncle James being born in 1963. In 1989 she and grandpa served a mission in Wisconsin.

So what do you give someone for their 80th birthday? Here is my sister Lori presenting a gift from the grandchildren. It is a scrapbook of all of her descendants over the last year. I think that’s a pretty good gift.


Another bonus of the big party is that all of my brothers and sisters, and my nieces and nephews were there. It is a rare opportunity that we get to take a picture like this. So my parents have 7 kids, 5 kids-in-law, and 8 grandkids. That makes them about 1/5th to where Grandma and Grandpa Ellis are.

So, what is everyone doing this summer? We should start with this week. The street performers’ festival starts this Friday. I’m also going to suggest that there be a picnic of sorts on Saturday. Any suggestions on locations? I was thinking either downtown by the library, or else near the Farmer’s Market off of Whyte.

Also on Saturday there is a swing dance that I might be interested in going to. I’ve been to them in the past, and they’re fun, but I’m wondering if anyone else would like to. Click here for more information.

Also I would like to see the Transformers movie. Because I'm a geek.

Anyone?

Un-boring

I have interesting and exciting friends and family.

Occasionally I fall into the habit of feeling sorry for myself, usually when I’ve been particularly lazy or tired. At such a time awhile back, I thought to myself, “Am I boring?” and, being in a moment of self pity, I thought, “why, yes, yes I am”.

Then I got over it, as I always do, with a hot meal, a good nights rest, and some scripture study. I don’t think I’m un-interesting (although I have been rejected by a girl who said she “wasn’t interested”. I could go on a whole other rant on what I think that could mean.) I think I’m a modestly interesting person (and not in way of “My, what an interesting shade of green”). The seeming lack of brightness I think stems from the fact that I surround myself with characters that shine so brightly that an ordinary person might feel a little dim.



And so, since it is boring to talk about oneself all the time, as blogs tend to do, I think I’ll talk mostly about other people that I love. They are all much more interesting than me. You’ll love it. I’ll probably ask permission from most people before I expose their lives to the internet community, this is not a guarantee.
I do have to write a few things about myself though. Since my last post I’ve gone from graduand to graduate. It’s an anticlimactic finish to a roller coaster education.



Also graduating was my younger sister Amy. She got her cap and gown and degree, but decided not to go to her own convocation. I don’t really blame her.



My dad was so proud that now all seven of his children have post-secondary degrees or diplomas. I think Amy was a little embarrassed.

Anyway, I need to get back to work. Being self employed has the one setback of the fact that you only get paid for the work you do. The flip side is that I don’t have to feel guilty of slacking off while I’m on the clock.

Oh, and my sister-in-law wanted me to send her this picture. Just click on it for high res.




Peace out.

The Continuing Adventures of Frank

Live Darn You Liiiiiive!
June 6, 2007
Frank the car is vexing me sorely. I came to the realisation this past week that having a car that doesn’t work is worse than having no car at all. This is because having a non-working car is like not having a car in that you can’t drive anywhere; it has all the bad things like the time and money that you end up putting into it to try to make it work again.
I now know that the reason for my Frank’s previous problems and the basis for its current inoperability is the fuel pump. For those of you who only know as much as I did at the start of this, the fuel pump is located inside the fuel tank. There are various good reasons for this, but it makes getting at said fuel pump a real pain in the neck.



A bypass option is to install a second pump outside the tank. In theory, this should work by drawing through the other pump and supplying the necessary fuel to the engine that way. In practice, if the first pump isn’t working because it’s blocked, the second pump does nothing but suck air through tiny gaps in the line.
So I need to figure out how to either unblock the first pump, or else find another way into the gas tank. I’m thinking about the second option right now.



Woohoo!
June 7, 2007
Frank is alive! After much effort and more than several dollars, the Frank is riding smooth once again. The final solution remains a mystery, due to an unscientific final push. For the last push I did two things. I went to Canadian Tire and picked up a gas can, a siphon kit, and a small tube of thread sealer.
I first tried to siphon gas from the tank. I have a good reason for this, but it didn’t matter because I couldn’t get any gas from the tank anyway. So much for that idea.
So I went to the nearest gas station and bought 10 litres of fuel. I transferred this into my car, and Tried to start it. No luck. So the final option was the thread sealer. I used it to seal any gaps that might have existed in the hose fittings. Tried it again: no luck.
Then I realised that I hadn’t re-connected the jumper supplying power to the fuel and ignition system. Silly me! So I reconnected that and Voilla! It started right up, and stayed started. So either I was out of fuel (possible, but not likely), the new fuel unclogged the old pump, or the thread sealer did the trick.
Okay so Frank works. Woo!

Never say die.

So Frank the car is working again. I am extremely grateful to the man from AMA. On Tuesday I managed to get a tow-truck out to my car at the Temple, even though it took all day. We decided to try and get it started before trying to tow it. So we boosted it and he pounded on the gas tank as I tried to start it. Lo and behold it started with a vengeance. Hallelujah!
The guy said that it’s surprising how often that works. In the winter you can get a car to start 95% of the time just by pounding on the gas tank with your hand. Who knew? Well I’m glad I learned that because I had to do it myself just yesterday. I like Frank but sometimes I think it doesn’t like me.
Well, every good blog needs pictures. Friday was such a beautiful day that I had to go outside to take some pictures of the cherry blossoms outside our apartment window. I may have to take more.



Later that day I saw a Rabit outside our flat eating dandilions. After a dozen or more shots I finally got this one. Apparently my nephew loves it.

Also, my camera is excellent for taking close up photos. I happen to think they are cool, so here is a close up of some cherry blossoms.

We don’t have apricot trees but as far as popcorn popping I imagine cherry blossomes, only more white.

And this is a tiny little plant that I saw on Mothers day as I went out for a walk with my folks. I realise now that I didn’t take a picture of them. I’m not very good at taking pictures of people. As evidenced here.

This is from the ultimate Frisbee activity that we had yesterday. Word to the wise. Do not get in Rand’s way. Unless you’re Adam.

Even then. I guess Adam was voted as the ‘coach’ of the day, because they poured the ice from to cooler on him. I missed the event itself, but here is the aftermath.
As for myself, I’m sore all over and I have sunburn on the back of my legs, where I missed putting the sunblock. I have skin that tans with SPF 45. It’s a curse I tell you.

My Car vs. the Temple

Pictures! I need pictures! For now words will have to do.

I had a very interesting day today, centered around the title of this entry. This morning started out pretty good. I managed to get up bright and early and made it to the early session at the temple. When I left the temple however, I was disappointed that my car would not start.

This is not a usual thing. I usually expect my vehicles to work, especially when they were working mere hours before. I had not left any lights on, or anything that would drain the battery. In fact the engine turned over quite merrily, but alas, it would not start.

Well being stranded at the temple I went inside the stake center to use the phone. Naturally I called my roommate Adam first. Well I got the answering machine. This I sort of expected. My instincts told me that he was still asleep in bed. I left a message to wake up and inquired on whether he could please come and get me.

In the meantime I considered my next course of action. I tried in vain to start my automobile (analogous to beating a deceased equine I suppose). I considered even going to the 1030 session at the temple, and I tried again to call my roommate. But by-the-by he arrived and extracted me from that location. I should also mention that we had pushed my car across the parking lot to a spot that would be less in the way of others, and easier to access pretty much everything.

So we came home and I changed into clothing more appropriate for dirty work. And thus prepared we journeyed to the institute to see whether there was anything left to clean. There wasn’t. There were people there however. Those who had cleaned were sitting in the central area chatting it up, and there was a troupe of local actors apparently rehearsing for a musical in the large multi-purpose room. We stayed and chatted about various topics ranging from the insipid to exceedingly nauseating. Health care professionals should not be allowed to talk about work at the diner table, among gentle company, or really at all. Only they could flow seamlessly from the topic of punctuation to an anecdote involving, well, I don’t want to burden you with a mental image.

At any rate, we eventually moved from that spot back to the apartment, where I proceeded to research what could be wrong with my car. Using my mum’s library card number, which I had to retrieve from my old computer, I found the online auto repair database and started to diagnose.

I came to a hopeful conclusion that it was a matter of worn out ignition cables. For those with limited auto experience, these are a set of cables that carry a voltage from the ignition coil (that produced a high voltage) to the distributor (that times the sparking) and then to the spark plugs. These cables can wear out suddenly and make the car simply not start.

So Adam, being the fantastic roommate that he is, chauffeured me for the rest of the day in my efforts to fix my vehicle. I grabbed some tools that I figured I would need, and we went back to the temple. I pulled out the existing ignition cables, breaking one of them in the process. Now it didn’t matter, they had to be replaced anyway. So we went to Canadian tire, my favorate place for auto parts I’ll admit. I found the necessary cables and also picked up a set of spark plugs for good measure.

Back at the temple, I quickly installed the new cables and crossed my fingers. Alas, the endeavour was in vain. The car still refused to start. Also, I had brought the wrong size of plug socket, so I couldn’t try to replace the spark plugs. However, we did test the main ignition cable and there was sparking. This ruled out the ignition coil as the problem.

So we returned to the apartment once again. I retrieved the correct tool for the job and did a little more research. I concluded that it would not be good if the distributor was the problem. I hoped that replacing the plugs would provide the needed break. We returned to the temple.

I replaced the spark plugs, and we tested each plug for sparking. I learned a valuable lesson that when dealing with 40,000 volts, you do not have to be close enough for sparks to get a shock. Simply having one hand in a high electric field and another hand at ground is enough to induce a current. Not to fear, it is not enough current to do any damage, but was a learning experience nonetheless. Unfortunately, my newfound knowledge failed to start the car.

Good things did come of this however. As I was under the hood, a woman approached us and inquired as to weather we were mechanics. She was having problems with her car a few blocks away and was stranded. We told her that unfortunately we were quite amateurish at this car repair business but asked if there was anything else we could do. She said that her husband would be able to come fix the car later that night, but that she really just wanted to get back home. She asked if she could borrow $12 for a cab. Something I had decided long ago was that if I stranger asked me for a specific amount of money in excess of $5, I would help them. So I did. I gave her a twenty and she asked how she could return it. I told her to just pass it on and she said she would definitely do that. That felt good.

Unfortunately automotive blessings were not immediate. The car still refused to start. It still turned over merrily though. I’m sure we were wearing out the starter. Well, as we were about to call it a day and go do some more research, another young man on a bicycle, and blinged out I might at, stopped and asked if he could take a look. I’ve got nothing to lose so I said sure. He told us his name was John, and he said he was an apprentice mechanic. He began exactly where I did by checking all of the cables for disconnection. His final diagnosis was that it wasn’t getting enough fuel. From what I know about cars this seems plausible. If there is a little fuel, but not enough, then there will be no ignition. The same is true of too much fuel, but I digress. He checked a couple of things and showed me where the fuel pump was, and told me how I could check a fuel injector if I managed to find it. However, he too was unable to start the car.
He said that he had met the missionaries from the church before and found it interesting. He was intrigued at the odd name ‘Elder’ too. We explained a few things. As an afterthought, we really should have taken the missionary opportunity better. But we didn’t. I need to do better at that I think.

Anyway, John was also unable to get the car started, and so we decided to call it a day. The rest of the day was spent in wonderful company. Jill and Alyssa invited us for food and games, and company. While there I saw an interesting cookbook entitles ‘The way to a Man’s heart”. I have always said that it is through his stomach. I stand by that. It doesn’t even have to be a gourmet or time-consuming dish, it just has to be food. Any time a man gets food from another person, that person improves in standing and importance to that man. Alyssa and Jill are both more beautiful to me now than they were before yesterday. And they are already quite high in my books.

We played a game of Settlers of Catan, which I lost. I don’t know if I’ve ever won at that game. Then again I try very hard not to be overly competitive. I used to be a real jerk in games. I hope I’m not as much of one now. After this we went to a birthday party. Happy Birthday Dana. I am not sure I was specifically invited, and I hate crashing parties, but I felt welcome anyway. Also, there were cupcakes. Tara is also now more beautiful as well.

I played a game called ‘Mao’ for the first time. It’s fun, the idea of the game is that it is a card game with certain rules, but only people that have played before know those rules. You would think that would give big advantage, but its fairly easy to catch on. And then more rules are added by people that win rounds. I think many of people were sick of it by the time we finished the first round.

So we left that party in good spirits and went back to Jill and Alyssa‘s for a movie and crochet circle. Adam and Tyler learned how to crochet. The movie was partially lost on me, but it seemed like it was okay. Well that was a long day, and a long blog entry. Not bad for a first real entry.

Oh, and as an epilogue. A short time ago, I stated that I couldn’t name my car until it broke down. I think I was jinxing myself. My car’s name is Frank.

Peace out.

A Journey of a Thousand Miles

So It seems everyone is doing it these days. I don't know if anyone will ever read this, but it doesn't really matter.
If anyone does care to read, I can promise intriguing, though random topics, bad spelling, and most of all, a chance to invade the private life of someone who doesn't have anything to hide.

So this is it, I'll maybe post more tommorrow, for now, I must sleep.

Peace out.