Life In a Fishbowl.

Bday!

2010-05-31T11:42:00.000-07:00

Hey Uncle Russ, Happy Birthday!

We made you cupcakes! Come get'em!

What a year.

2010-05-18T23:52:00.000-07:00

So I was thinking that it had probably been about a year since I posted on my blog and...I was right!

I guess I've been able to get away with it by just doing little facebook updates but I missed the ability to post a story, something bigger then 140 characters and to the world verses the walled off garden that is facebook (maybe not much anymore but I digress).

Lots have happened this year, the good the bad, the indifferent.

Rachel and I have been homeowners for a little over a year now! That's pretty cool. Being a homeowner has been an experience, not to mention all the renovations. All I can say is that having friends and family around with know how and the willingness to help, has been awesome. I'll post some pictures of all the work that's been done later. Also now with a little more knowledge of what kind of fruit trees are on our property and how to take better care of them I see a lot more yummy goodness in our future. We even finally have neighbors that moved in next door just a month or so ago.

With my Uncle passing away back in September and my Grandpa this past March, two gigantic holes were left in our family. It's weird learning how to live without them, they both played such a huge role in my life. They were both men that I admired and would seek out for advice (they were also fun to just hang out with!).

It's funny how little things will come out of no where and remind me of one of them. Whether that be a drum beat, uncoiled hose, smell of cut grass and gasoline or simply Haven of Rest that I pass by everyday on my way home from work.

They are terribly missed and I long for new memories with them but keep reminding myself to just hold on to the ones I have and seek out ones I forgot.

Overall I would say that it's been a good year. Hard but good. Our family has been through a lot but by the grace of God I'd say we've grown towards each other, not away. That and my 3 nephews and nieces provide plenty of distractions from the things that we adults think are important.

I've missed posting here. For some reason I feel more freed up to write here then on social networks. Maybe because I don't feel like bothering all my friends and family with my geeky tech stuff and by posting here I don't feel like I'm forcing anyone to read about it. Also I like the ability to write a decent sized post sometimes and it doesn't seemed like facebook was built for that, but only short silly things.

Anyhoo to anyone out there with nothing better to do, I think I'm ready to come back and post more often than...well, not.

Goodnight.

Hello!

2009-05-15T09:38:00.000-07:00

WOW. Where did the month go?!

This month has been crazy. So my last post was about Rachel and I moving into our new house out in Purdy. So we've been going crazy trying to fix things up while we have the energy!

The house is sitting on nearly an acre with a gigantic front yard full of fruit trees (and a lawn that will require us to buy a riding lawn mower!). It's 1730 sq. feet with a 480 sq foot shop (or "Man Cave"). It has three bedrooms, 1.75 baths and a deep 1 car garage. It also has a cool covered patio out back which will be handy if the sun ever comes back...

We started by painting the master bedroom, office and entry/hallway. The house also had those old dark brown doors and molding so we replaced the doors with white 6 panel ones and are painting the molding white. While we were at it we also replaced all the door hardware with brushed nickel ones. We're also replacing all the old outlets from beige to white ones as we go.

The big project was a few weeks ago when we had some friends over to tear down the wood paneling in our living room. We ended up mudding and texturing the whole thing because the glue from the paneling did so much damage to the wall. Now with a fresh coat of paint, it looks huge! We still need to replace the molding in that room but that did a whole bunch towards bringing the house into this decade!

We also replaced the thermostat with a more modern programable one and replaced the old doorbell as well. The other day I even put up our new mailbox with our name on it! We've also have done a bunch of work on the outside with all the plants and I cut down 5 stray fir and holly trees that were crowding our fruit trees and rhodi's.

We have some pictures of when we first moved in and we will be taking a few more of all the work that has been done to it. When we do, I'll let you all know of course.

The next giant project is that we ordered a new kitchen last week! The cabinets should be delivered in about three weeks and later this summer we will be tearing out the old one and replacing it. That is going to be a huge job so if anyone wants to lend a hand for an afternoon, just let us know!

Anyhoo, that's been the big thing on my plate this last month. Stuff at work is also shifting around a little as well as some family stuff.

Hopfully I can start updating this more regularly, we've just been waiting for our internet guy to finally hook us up! It's been close to a month now and we're hoping to have internet by this next week. Pretty please Comcast?

Thank You!

2009-04-11T00:47:00.000-07:00

There are few things more humbling then asking for help and having friends and family drop what they're doing to lend a hand...backs and trucks!

I so appreciate everyone that came out today to help us move. I felt very blessed and it made the day fly by to be around you all.

I also can't believe how much was moved! Only a few truckloads remain and then all we'll have left is the unpacking, sorting and throwing outing! And I know that Iven probably doesn't want this info out there but he is a packing guru!

We'll be trying to finish moving the last of our stuff today and hopefully be installing some new interior doors to brighten the hallway and bring the place one step closer to the present.

It's looking like Saturday, April 18th is shaping up to be a workday if you still want to help out! Either finishing getting our rooms feng shui'd, trimming some overgrown plants, painting or tearing down some wood paneling! Or just come over for some tea and check out our new digs (that's right, we won't put you to work just for stopping by - so don't be scared)!

Alright I'm exhausted! Night all!

We have a house!..kind of...

2009-04-08T13:12:00.000-07:00

Just 76 signatures and initials later, we are just one step away from owning a house! Our papers should be headed to escrow tonight and we should close and have the house keys by Friday! And the crazy part was that we are just a week shy of one year of looking. Has it really been that long? Rachel started blogging about it here.

All those signatures reminded me of a sermon that our new Pastor, Michael White, preached last month on being truthful and having our yes mean yes and our no mean no. He talked about all those papers he had to sign to buy their house up here and how much our society is based on us not telling the truth. It makes even more sense to me now! I linked to it above and they have tons of sermons online if you wanted to check them out on the churches website.

We'll be moving our stuff over and doing some painting Friday and Saturday if anyone is able to help or lend a vehicle, just let us know!

Ninja Parade!

2009-04-01T15:15:00.000-07:00

Happy April 1st!

Week in Review

2009-03-27T18:38:00.000-07:00

So my buddy Dave and I donated blood this afternoon. We've been donating together since Dave dragged me there back in High School. After that first time donating I realized how ridiculous it was for me to say that I didn't donate because I was scared of needles. That and a half hour prevented me from saving a few lives? Seemed a little silly.

Did you know that 37% of the United States can donate but only 5% do? That's crazy!

So what's your excuse?

How about this, the next time I can donate is on May 29th and my birthday is that week! If anyone wants to give me an awesome present, you can come with! And then maybe we can all go get some food afterwards or something. I'm not asking you to donate every 2 months (though that would be sweet!) just this once. And if you find that it's not for you, that's alright because you already saved a few lives. Just a thought.

Speaking of birthdays...My sister Maya has one tomorrow! So give her a call or drop her an electronic note to tell her how awesome she is. And did I mention that my niece Lily was baptised last week? We don't have those photos up on our picture site just yet so you'll just have to settle with these pictures of Lily and Spencer in the park with the Blaisdell's bunny, Cadbury.

Anyhoo, not much has changed on the soon-to-be-home front. We are still in the midst of buying a house in Purdy off of Danforth. If all goes well, we should be closing within 2 weeks!

We'll be sure to let everyone know when we have a firm move in date.

And finally, the cool news I mentioned earlier was that my buddy Matt Cox let me know that he just got engaged to his girlfriend Whitney! And he's letting me be the best man! Pretty sweet.

Long Time, No Type!

2009-03-14T22:56:00.000-07:00

Whew!

A lot going on lately, sorry to leave all you wonderful people who take an interest in my life, hanging.

One, It was Zakeyo's 10th Bday today! Rachel and I sponsor a child from Zambia. Actually he's from the same town that has one of Brian's wells (which is another story in itself). If you've been considering making a huge difference in someone's life...what are you waiting for?! There's a link to World Vision down on the right hand side of this blog, just click away and I promise you won't regret it.

Two, it's looking good with Rachel and I buying a house! If you haven't heard about it yet it's because we've been burnt so many times (This is our 8th home offer?) that I expected something to go horribly wrong so I didn't want to tell everyone until we got over most of the hurdles. But today we got over one of the last ones! After the inspection on Thursday we found a few things we wanted the owner to fix and today he agreed! The house is off of Danforth just a few minutes past the Purdy Bridge. It's a 3 bedroom, 2 bath sitting on almost an acre. Now if our finances goes smoothly, we should be in by the end of the month.

Three, Rachel and I spent last weekend at our Middle School Winter Retreat. It was a lot of fun and for those of you wondering why we can call a March retreat "Winter" just remember that we came home to SNOW in Gig Harbor...That's just wrong...

Four, I've been hanging out at my buddy Blake's flyfishing shop in downtown Gig Harbor a lot this week. I'm still fairly new to the whole flyfishing thing but it's still a lot of fun just milling about down there. So you should come by and check it out! They are currently open from 3-6pm Sundays-Fridays and all day on Saturdays.

Five, Rachel and I are headed to a Remodeling Expo in Tacoma tomorrow (it's like they knew!) so if you have nothing to do and want to hang out with us, come on down!

Six, less then an hour ago I got some exciting news from one of my buddies. I'll tell you what later but wanted to give him a few hours head start telling people.

I think I got most of the major things...Anyhoo, I'm tired so I'm going to bed - I got work in the morning!

cakewrecks

2009-03-02T14:32:00.000-08:00

Man...I've been pretty lazy about updating this! Sorry all...

Rachel and I have been putting offers on houses left and right and I'm getting tired of being rejected...getting better at bouncing back though.

Anyhoo, since it's my sister's bday tomorrow (Amy's) I thought I'd share with you all a hilarious website I came across a few weeks ago called Cakewrecks.

Enjoy.

Fly Shop!

2009-02-15T00:11:00.001-08:00

So my buddy Blake has just officially announced on his blog that they will be opening a Fly Fishing Store in downtown Gig Harbor! It's slated to open in another month or so and they will be changing their business name from www.wildernessangler.com to www.gigharborflyshop.com.

In the mean time you can check out their store (Uncle Russ, they even ship internationally) at www.wildernessangler.com and read up on any new news on their blog at www.wildernessangler.blogspot.com.

I can't wait! What a big step for them, pretty exciting.

So congrats Blake and Alison!

25 random things.

2009-02-10T09:09:00.000-08:00

So there's this thing going around facebook that has people writing 25 random things about themselves. Last night I finally posted mine and thought that I might as well share it with you all as well. Some of it might not make a lot of sense but that's okay, and some of it should probably come with more explaination...but that's okay too.

1. I enjoy stealing high fives. I've been doing it for years and now have it down to a fine art.

2. Since graduating High School my buddy Dave and I have donated over 3 gallons of blood. (And we always like to find new people that would like to save lives too!)

3. I've been to 14 Major League Baseball stadiums and want to see the rest of them.

4. I like fixing up computers, they're like a big jigsaw puzzle for me.

5. The longest I've gone without sleeping was 50 hours. I then promptly slept for 30 straight hours to recover.

6. I don't want to be older then 25.

7. I own 11 paintball guns.

8. When I was in Middle School, I hit my principle with a cup of yogurt during a massive food fight.

9. I've had to have a cast on my ear before.

10. I don't like odd numbers unless they're divisible by 5. For that reason it bugs me if I notice the volume is on 17.

11. Mark, Matt and Sam got me to finally try out Guitar Hero last year and now I own Rockband and love it.

12. I'm going to steal this from Dave's, "I've played frisbee golf in several states, and am proud of that fact" because it's so true and we did it together.

13. I use a money clip because if I have bills in my wallet they need to be facing the same direction, without folds and creases, and in denominational order of least to greatest. But in the money clip I don't seem to really care.

14. My wife is the most interesting person I have ever met. We've been dating for over 7 years and I still find her fascinating.

15. I once did a 360 through an intersection in a Porsche...on accident.

16. Being an Uncle is awesome. I can't wait for those rugrats to start running around!

17. I love finding another Technophile to geek out with. Know anyone that can keep up with me on the latest stuff?

18. The worst papercut I ever got was on my eye.

19. I've been attending Harbor Covenant Church for almost 20 years.

20. I once subscribed to ESPN and Sports Illustrated magazine over the phone in my sleep.

21. Sometimes I wonder if the reason why I enjoy hanging out with middle schoolers is tied to my maturity level.

22. My perfect vacation is basking on a beach. Man I want to go back to Hawaii...

23. I hesitated to post this after reading this article but number 15 cracked me up and I decided to anyway.

24. One of the nicest gifts I ever received was a Mirinda Orange Soda.

25. I'm contemplating starting a side business to compete with Geek Squad using Blake's name suggestion of "Nerd Herd." Okay, maybe that's only half true.

16 ways to save money

2009-02-06T21:59:00.000-08:00

Ever visited to blog, www.dumblittleman.com? Well you should! Pretty fun site, they have lots of articles with various tips ranging on a variety of topics. I subscribed to them via my Google Reader.

Anyway, one of their recent articles was on 16 simple ways that we can be saving money everyday. I should be doing numbers 1 and 6 and I bet Blake would second number 2 (did that make any sense?).

How about you?

A snapshot of our economy

2009-01-30T01:13:00.000-08:00

A while back I posted about a new website called www.mint.com. I'm still enjoying the site a bunch and wholeheartedly recommend it to anyone looking to organize their finances.

Well I just came across another site talking about them here. Basically Mint has put together some charts of their 900,000 users (I being one of them) to give us a look at how about 1% of our nation are using their money. As the post mentions, we keep hearing about how bad it is but to actually see some real numbers is very interesting.

If you have a minute, I'd recommend checking out the link.

And if you're considering checking out Mint.com, what are you waiting for? Rachel and I have been using it for nearly a year now and it has been nothing but helpful.

do you like nerdy surprises?

2009-01-22T08:27:00.000-08:00

if so,

1. In Windows XP, go to Start, then select Run.
2. Type in or copy and paste "telnet towel.blinkenlights.nl" without the quotes.
3. Sit back and watch one of the funniest easter eggs out there.

(Note this did not work with Vista.)

Oh and you may want to grab some popcorn before you hit enter, there's no pause button...

You may have heard it, but have you read it yet?

2009-01-20T11:20:00.000-08:00

Barack Obama Inaugural Address
January 20th, 2009 at the Lincoln Memorial, Washington DC.

“My fellow citizens:

I stand here today humbled by the task before us, grateful for the trust you have bestowed, mindful of the sacrifices borne by our ancestors. I thank President Bush for his service to our nation, as well as the generosity and cooperation he has shown throughout this transition.

Forty-four Americans have now taken the presidential oath. The words have been spoken during rising tides of prosperity and the still waters of peace. Yet, every so often the oath is taken amidst gathering clouds and raging storms. At these moments, America has carried on not simply because of the skill or vision of those in high office, but because We the People have remained faithful to the ideals of our forbearers, and true to our founding documents.

So it has been. So it must be with this generation of Americans.

That we are in the midst of crisis is now well understood. Our nation is at war, against a far-reaching network of violence and hatred. Our economy is badly weakened, a consequence of greed and irresponsibility on the part of some, but also our collective failure to make hard choices and prepare the nation for a new age. Homes have been lost; jobs shed; businesses shuttered. Our health care is too costly; our schools fail too many; and each day brings further evidence that the ways we use energy strengthen our adversaries and threaten our planet.

These are the indicators of crisis, subject to data and statistics. Less measurable but no less profound is a sapping of confidence across our land - a nagging fear that America’s decline is inevitable, and that the next generation must lower its sights.

Today I say to you that the challenges we face are real. They are serious and they are many.

They will not be met easily or in a short span of time. But know this, America - they will be met. On this day, we gather because we have chosen hope over fear, unity of purpose over conflict and discord.

On this day, we come to proclaim an end to the petty grievances and false promises, the recriminations and worn out dogmas, that for far too long have strangled our politics.”

“We remain a young nation, but in the words of Scripture, the time has come to set aside childish things. The time has come to reaffirm our enduring spirit; to choose our better history; to carry forward that precious gift, that noble idea, passed on from generation to generation: the God-given promise that all are equal, all are free, and all deserve a chance to pursue their full measure of happiness.

In reaffirming the greatness of our nation, we understand that greatness is never a given. It must be earned. Our journey has never been one of short-cuts or settling for less. It has not been the path for the faint-hearted - for those who prefer leisure over work, or seek only the pleasures of riches and fame. Rather, it has been the risk-takers, the doers, the makers of things - some celebrated but more often men and women obscure in their labor, who have carried us up the long, rugged path towards prosperity and freedom.

For us, they packed up their few worldly possessions and traveled across oceans in search of a new life.

For us, they toiled in sweatshops and settled the West; endured the lash of the whip and plowed the hard earth.

For us, they fought and died, in places like Concord and Gettysburg; Normandy and Khe Sahn. Time and again these men and women struggled and sacrificed and worked till their hands were raw so that we might live a better life. They saw America as bigger than the sum of our individual ambitions; greater than all the differences of birth or wealth or faction.

This is the journey we continue today. We remain the most prosperous, powerful nation on Earth. Our workers are no less productive than when this crisis began. Our minds are no less inventive, our goods and services no less needed than they were last week or last month or last year. Our capacity remains undiminished. But our time of standing pat, of protecting narrow interests and putting off unpleasant decisions - that time has surely passed. Starting today, we must pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off, and begin again the work of remaking America.

For everywhere we look, there is work to be done. The state of the economy calls for action, bold and swift, and we will act - not only to create new jobs, but to lay a new foundation for growth. We will build the roads and bridges, the electric grids and digital lines that feed our commerce and bind us together. We will restore science to its rightful place, and wield technology’s wonders to raise health care’s quality and lower its cost. We will harness the sun and the winds and the soil to fuel our cars and run our factories. And we will transform our schools and colleges and universities to meet the demands of a new age. All this we can do. And all this we will do.

Now, there are some who question the scale of our ambitions - who suggest that our system cannot tolerate too many big plans. Their memories are short. For they have forgotten what this country has already done; what free men and women can achieve when imagination is joined to common purpose, and necessity to courage.

What the cynics fail to understand is that the ground has shifted beneath them - that the stale political arguments that have consumed us for so long no longer apply. The question we ask today is not whether our government is too big or too small, but whether it works - whether it helps families find jobs at a decent wage, care they can afford, a retirement that is dignified. Where the answer is yes, we intend to move forward. Where the answer is no, programs will end. And those of us who manage the public’s dollars will be held to account - to spend wisely, reform bad habits, and do our business in the light of day - because only then can we restore the vital trust between a people and their government.

Nor is the question before us whether the market is a force for good or ill. Its power to generate wealth and expand freedom is unmatched, but this crisis has reminded us that without a watchful eye, the market can spin out of control - and that a nation cannot prosper long when it favors only the prosperous. The success of our economy has always depended not just on the size of our Gross Domestic Product, but on the reach of our prosperity; on our ability to extend opportunity to every willing heart - not out of charity, but because it is the surest route to our common good.

As for our common defense, we reject as false the choice between our safety and our ideals. Our Founding Fathers, faced with perils we can scarcely imagine, drafted a charter to assure the rule of law and the rights of man, a charter expanded by the blood of generations. Those ideals still light the world, and we will not give them up for expedience’s sake. And so to all other peoples and governments who are watching today, from the grandest capitals to the small village where my father was born: know that America is a friend of each nation and every man, woman, and child who seeks a future of peace and dignity, and that we are ready to lead once more.

Recall that earlier generations faced down fascism and communism not just with missiles and tanks, but with sturdy alliances and enduring convictions. They understood that our power alone cannot protect us, nor does it entitle us to do as we please. Instead, they knew that our power grows through its prudent use; our security emanates from the justness of our cause, the force of our example, the tempering qualities of humility and restraint.

We are the keepers of this legacy. Guided by these principles once more, we can meet those new threats that demand even greater effort - even greater cooperation and understanding between nations. We will begin to responsibly leave Iraq to its people, and forge a hard-earned peace in Afghanistan. With old friends and former foes, we will work tirelessly to lessen the nuclear threat, and roll back the specter of a warming planet. We will not apologize for our way of life, nor will we waver in its defense, and for those who seek to advance their aims by inducing terror and slaughtering innocents, we say to you now that our spirit is stronger and cannot be broken; you cannot outlast us, and we will defeat you.

For we know that our patchwork heritage is a strength, not a weakness. We are a nation of Christians and Muslims, Jews and Hindus - and non-believers. We are shaped by every language and culture, drawn from every end of this Earth; and because we have tasted the bitter swill of civil war and segregation, and emerged from that dark chapter stronger and more united, we cannot help but believe that the old hatreds shall someday pass; that the lines of tribe shall soon dissolve; that as the world grows smaller, our common humanity shall reveal itself; and that America must play its role in ushering in a new era of peace.

To the Muslim world, we seek a new way forward, based on mutual interest and mutual respect.

To those leaders around the globe who seek to sow conflict, or blame their society’s ills on the West - know that your people will judge you on what you can build, not what you destroy. To those who cling to power through corruption and deceit and the silencing of dissent, know that you are on the wrong side of history; but that we will extend a hand if you are willing to unclench your fist.

To the people of poor nations, we pledge to work alongside you to make your farms flourish and let clean waters flow; to nourish starved bodies and feed hungry minds. And to those nations like ours that enjoy relative plenty, we say we can no longer afford indifference to suffering outside our borders; nor can we consume the world’s resources without regard to effect. For the world has changed, and we must change with it.

As we consider the road that unfolds before us, we remember with humble gratitude those brave Americans who, at this very hour, patrol far-off deserts and distant mountains. They have something to tell us today, just as the fallen heroes who lie in Arlington whisper through the ages.

We honor them not only because they are guardians of our liberty, but because they embody the spirit of service; a willingness to find meaning in something greater than themselves. And yet, at this moment - a moment that will define a generation - it is precisely this spirit that must inhabit us all.

For as much as government can do and must do, it is ultimately the faith and determination of the American people upon which this nation relies. It is the kindness to take in a stranger when the levees break, the selflessness of workers who would rather cut their hours than see a friend lose their job which sees us through our darkest hours. It is the firefighter’s courage to storm a stairway filled with smoke, but also a parent’s willingness to nurture a child, that finally decides our fate.

Our challenges may be new. The instruments with which we meet them may be new. But those values upon which our success depends - hard work and honesty, courage and fair play, tolerance and curiosity, loyalty and patriotism - these things are old. These things are true. They have been the quiet force of progress throughout our history. What is demanded then is a return to these truths. What is required of us now is a new era of responsibility - a recognition, on the part of every American, that we have duties to ourselves, our nation, and the world, duties that we do not grudgingly accept but rather seize gladly, firm in the knowledge that there is nothing so satisfying to the spirit, so defining of our character, than giving our all to a difficult task.

This is the price and the promise of citizenship.

This is the source of our confidence - the knowledge that God calls on us to shape an uncertain destiny.

This is the meaning of our liberty and our creed - why men and women and children of every race and every faith can join in celebration across this magnificent mall, and why a man whose father less than sixty years ago might not have been served at a local restaurant can now stand before you to take a most sacred oath.

So let us mark this day with remembrance, of who we are and how far we have traveled. In the year of America’s birth, in the coldest of months, a small band of patriots huddled by dying campfires on the shores of an icy river. The capital was abandoned. The enemy was advancing. The snow was stained with blood. At a moment when the outcome of our revolution was most in doubt, the father of our nation ordered these words be read to the people:

“Let it be told to the future world…that in the depth of winter, when nothing but hope and virtue could survive…that the city and the country, alarmed at one common danger, came forth to meet [it].”

America. In the face of our common dangers, in this winter of our hardship, let us remember these timeless words. With hope and virtue, let us brave once more the icy currents, and endure what storms may come. Let it be said by our children’s children that when we were tested we refused to let this journey end, that we did not turn back nor did we falter; and with eyes fixed on the horizon and God’s grace upon us, we carried forth that great gift of freedom and delivered it safely to future generations.”

Packwood '09!

2009-01-14T08:34:00.000-08:00

Busy busy!

I finally got my butt in gear and uploaded photos from our trip up to Packwood.

For the last two years we've headed down there for my buddy Matt's bday. Always relaxing and plenty fun!

For those interested, here's the link to the rest of them. (Just a bunch of pictures of use playing in the snow and playing some board and videogames.)

Happy New Year!

2009-01-01T12:23:00.000-08:00

Wow. They seem to go by faster don't they?

Anyhoo, you know what that means...New Year Resolutions.

Yep. Bettering ourselves.

I know, I know. You might be sick of people talking about them but I like the idea of picking something in your life that you'd like to do more/less of and working on it. Since I never seem to remember past resolutions, maybe I should pick improving my memory...

Or simply organizing myself. Not everything, that I think would be too big a task. But there are definite areas that I need to be more efficient in.So how about you?

Merry Christmas!

2008-12-25T09:46:00.001-08:00

Try JibJab Sendables® eCards today!

Hey all! Rachel and I pray you all have a wonderful Christmas!

Sledding Fools

2008-12-21T15:04:00.000-08:00

So Rachel talked me into a sled ride and I wondered what our faces would look like. Yep, kinda what I thought. If you're sick of the snow like me try sledding out, it'll take your mind off of it for a bit!

Engrishfunny.com = ror

2008-12-16T07:18:00.000-08:00

So I stumbled onto this site last week and it cracked me up. It's called www.engrishfunny.com and it's exactly what you think it is. Yep, a site dedicated to all those "asian and/or pacific islander"-to-english translations that people come across like this one:Oh man...Good stuff...Sniff...

Go ahead, check the site out - it's a hoot!

(And you don't have to feel bad "raughing" because your asian friend told you to!)

I broke my Jawbone...

2008-12-12T20:53:00.000-08:00

So I lost my bluetooth headset (called a Jawbone) the other day. I retraced my steps and found it outside my storage unit that I was at the night before, looking like this. Yep, $80 down the drain. The sad part is that this was my second one! I lost my first one months after getting it (still waiting for it to turn up).

Anyway to Aliph's (the company that makes the Jawbone) credit, it still synched with my phone after spending the night getting rained on and being run over by a truck!

My lovely wife has granted me permission to buy a new one (The Jawbone 2) and I am so happy. The reason being that it seriously is the best bluetooth headset I've come across.

This noise cancelling headset was originally developed for the military to be able to eliminate ambient noise in battlefields like helicopters! It's able to do this because there's a little "nub" that touches your jawbone which feels the vibrations when you talk and then eliminates all other sound. It works great and since I started using it I stopped hearing people ask if I'm on a bluetooth (except for when they hear me fumbling for it in my pocket!). Anyway, I've tried the cheapo ones out there and they drive me crazy. What's the point when I have to roll up my window, turn down my music and ask people to talk quieter in my car just to answer my phone? And I'd still need to press it to my ear to hear them!

If you're frustrated with your bluetooth headset like I was, this thing's wonderful. It is awesome at eliminating outside noise and will adjust your volume automatically if it finds you in a noisier place. Of course you have to be as frustrated as me to be willing to spend as much as a phone, but whatever...

Happy Turkey Day Friends!

2008-11-27T11:13:00.000-08:00

Still one of my favorite Thanksgiving comics...

I did it!

2008-11-25T23:54:00.000-08:00

So I read a blog post this last week where a guy had emptied out his email inbox. At the time I thought it was weird to be so excited about such a thing, but then over the last few days I noticed how disorganized my inbox was. It was so bad that I was not responding to people because their messages were getting buried and lost!

Frustrated, I decided to do two things today:

Create a "To Do" folder (or label if you use gmail like me) for all messages that need a response. And they won't leave that folder until the task is done.
Clean out my inbox. As you can see from my previous post, I had 87 unopened messages in my inbox (various reasons why, some where calendar alerts, or an email from somebody I already talked to, or I could read the response in the subject line, or from a website I had signed up for, etc.). Not only that, but what you didn't see was that I had over 500 messages in my inbox!

It took a few hours of labeling, but I managed to cut them down to just a handful which I moved into the "To Do" folder.

So it might seem silly but I feel much better now, like a giant burden is off my shoulders! Maybe I'll go clean my office now!...Or maybe I'll do that after the holidays...Meh, it was good while it lasted...

Ninja-mail!

2008-11-20T00:05:00.000-08:00

So Gmail has added a themes tab to their settings page. I of course had to choose the "Ninja" one. Kind of funny because no one else really sees your email inbox, but freshens it up a bit so I'm not complaining. I'll wait until the 'New Theme' smell wears off and then I'll probably pick a more soothing one.

If you don't have a gmail account yet, I don't know what you're waiting for because it's worth the hassle! Since my friend Jess gave me my account over 4 years ago, I've been able to switch almost all my immediate friends and family over to gmail and haven't received any complaints yet. It's quick and easy to use, comes with a ton of other Google programs (docs, photo, calendar, reader, etc), not to mention the best spam filter I've come across. (And no, they don't pay me to say that...yet.)

Try it out!

Bike Hero?

2008-11-19T20:54:00.000-08:00

Saw this video today. I don't get how but it was cool anyway. It's probably viral advertising by Activision, but even so it was still interesting and well done.

Survivorman...sniff...

2008-11-08T10:27:00.000-08:00

So, just found out that Rachel's and my favorite tv show, Survivorman is done. Sadness. If you don't know, the guy above is Les Stroud and his show Survivorman had him go to remote locations and spend a week there with little to nothing to help but 100lbs of camera gear!

Some of you may be saying right now, "that sounds like another show I've seen, Man vs. Wild" to which I would say, "BASHAW!" Seriously, you want to have that discussion right now? Bear would be begging for Les's table scraps if they had to spend the week surviving together! Bear would go out with a film crew and specialists that would instruct him off camera, not to mention that he had spent nights in hotels sometimes when filming his show! On the other hand Les had to survive on his own and film it himself which often required twice as much work to set up long shots.

His reasoning makes sense though, he's been doing this for three seasons and he thinks his body can only take so many weeks without food a year.

Oh well.

Change.gov?

2008-11-07T12:24:00.001-08:00

Yep, looks like Obama already has a government site up:

I guess President Bush wasn't kidding when he said that his priority for the rest of his Presidency would be on a smooth transition.

And despite how you voted on Tuesday, this should be a useful site for all of us. (Read: Either what to look forward too or an enemy telegraphing his punches!)

My mom voted!

2008-11-05T10:38:00.000-08:00

So my mom just became a citizen last month (4 days before voter registration ended!) and voted yesterday in her first election! I'm so proud of her. She picked me up at work (which was right next to our voting place) and we stood in line for over an hour. It was crazy how many people were there! My mom saw her friend Sonja who also was at her first election (became a citizen two years ago) and I bumped into some friends from church.

The other nice thing that I saw was that when they were checking my mom in, my grandparents signatures were there too! I should have thought that they were going to do it old school and not mail it in!

Afterwards we went to Starbucks for our free coffee.

Ummm...

2008-11-04T14:10:00.000-08:00

GET OFF YOUR COMPUTER AND GO VOTE!

I Knew It!

2008-10-18T06:30:00.000-07:00

Now whenever people ask me why my office is so messy, I'll have a good reason to give them!

Rachel's Bday!

2008-10-16T00:33:00.000-07:00

So it is my lovely wife's Birthday today! So track Rachel down and sing her "Happy Birthday" or give her a ring, or a text, or an email, or a facebook message, or skywrite, or wave in her general direction, or make smoke signals, or think about happy things happening to her - you know, the usual.

$10,150,603,734,720

2008-10-12T23:28:00.000-07:00

I don't have any underlining political agenda with this post. I'm just awestruck is all.

I just read this article about how in NYC there is a "National Debt Clock" that ran out of digits. Yep.

From the article:

Below the amount of the national debt on the clock is another row of figures: "YOUR Family share." As of Saturday afternoon, the $86,023 fit properly into the respective LCD squares.

How Racism Works...

2008-10-10T07:00:00.000-07:00

This was sent to me and I thought it made too much sense not to show you. Problem is that I think the people I want most to understand what it is saying will ignore it completely or simply write it off. Sad, but all I can do is post it and have a little hope that people can be actually honest with themselves.

What if John McCain were a former president of the Harvard Law Review?
What if Barack Obama finished fifth from the bottom of his graduating class?

What if McCain were still married to the first woman he said 'I do' to?
What if Obama were the candidate who left his first wife after she no longer measured up to his standards?

What if Michelle Obama were a wife who not only became addicted to pain killers, but acquired them illegally through her charitable organization?
What if Cindy McCain graduated from Harvard?

What if Obama were a member of the Keating-5?
What if McCain were a charismatic, eloquent speaker?

If these questions reflected reality, do you really believe the election numbers would be as close as they are?
This is what racism does. It covers up, rationalizes and minimizes positive qualities in one candidate and emphasizes negative qualities in another when there is a color difference.

You are The Boss... which team would you hire?

With America facing historic debt, 2 wars, stumbling health care, a weakened dollar, all-time high prison population, mortgage crises, bank foreclosures, etc.

Educational Background:

Obama:
Columbia University - B.A. Political Science with a Specialization in International Relations.
Harvard - Juris Doctor (J.D.) Magna Cum Laude, President of the Harvard Law Review.

Biden:
University of Delaware - B.A. in History and B.A. in Political Science.
Syracuse University College of Law - Juris Doctor (J.D.)

vs.

McCain:
United States Naval Academy - Class rank: 894 of 899

Palin:
Hawaii Pacific University - 1 semester
North Idaho College - 2 semesters - general study
University of Idaho - 2 semesters - journalism
Matanuska-Susitna College - 1 semester
University of Idaho - 3 semesters - B.A. in Journalism

Now, which team are you going to hire ?

PS: What if Barack Obama had an unwed, pregnant teenage daughter....

Please read it again, whether or not you felt convicted. Thank you.

And for those Joe Sixpacks playing at home...Maverick. Krspt!

2008-10-09T09:32:00.001-07:00

One of the things that made me cringe every time I've heard either McCain or Palin talk have been with their use of the word Maverick. I grew tired of it. Enough already I thought!

But after reading this article at The New York Times (booo! -ha!) now whenever they use it, it'll just make me laugh.

You see when I looked the word up, I learned that one of the definitions was "Unbranded Cattle." What I didn't know was the history of the word and how it came from a Texas family whose last name is Maverick and how angry they are whenever the Republican ticket uses the word!

Considering the family’s long history of association with liberalism and progressive ideals, it should come as no surprise that Ms. Maverick insists that John McCain, who has voted so often with his party, “is in no way a maverick, in uppercase or lowercase.”
“It’s just incredible — the nerve! — to suggest that he’s not part of that Republican herd. Every time we hear it, all my children and I and all my family shrink a little and say, ‘Oh, my God, he said it again.’ ”
“He’s a Republican,” she said. “He’s branded.”

Oh man. I think I'm going to try and find a video of Palin speaking so I can start this morning off with a good laugh!

You are registered to vote right?

2008-10-01T15:29:00.000-07:00

This will be the last week to register to vote so if you haven't done it yet, please do so now.

Because you do know that you have to register in the next few days to be able to vote next month right?

If you live in Washington State, click here

If you want to find out what to do if you live elsewhere, click here

If you moved, changed your name or just want to check to see if you're registered, click here

For more info for Washington voters, click here

What are you waiting for? You only have a few days left and you're on the internet right now! Do it now!

emailed.

2008-09-28T12:13:00.000-07:00

I had a family member forward this to me and thought it was interesting enough to share. It's only the first half but made me think of how ridiculous these claims are when you read them side by side.

"I'm confused"

I'm a little confused. Let me see if I have this straight.....

* If you grow up in Hawaii, raised by your grandparents, you're
"exotic, different."

* Grow up in Alaska eating moose burgers, a quintessential American story.

* If your name is Barack you're a radical, unpatriotic Muslim.

* Name your kids Willow, Trig and Track, and you're a maverick.

* Graduate from Harvard law School and be President of the Law Review,
and you are unstable.

* Attend 5 different small colleges before graduating, you're well grounded.

* If you spend 3 years as a community organizer, create a voter
registration drive that registers 150,000 new voters, spend 12 years
as a Constitutional Law professor, spend 8 years as a State Senator
representing a district with over 750,000 people, become chairman of
the state Senate's Health and Human Services committee, spend 4 years
in the United States Senate representing a state of 13 million people
while sponsoring 131 bills and serving on the Foreign Affairs,
Environment and Public Works and Veteran's Affairs committees, you
don't have any real leadership experience.

* If your total resume is: local weather girl, 4 years on the city
council and 6 years as the mayor of a town with less than 7,000
people, 20 months as the governor of a state with only 650,000 people,
then you're qualified to become the country's second highest ranking
executive.

I know that other email forwards with other viewpoints probably exist and might be commented with, but this is STILL seriously sad to read. I hate how we have all this media confusion being used. And both parties are guilty. It's just sad how we can't just hear the truth to be able to make up our minds, everything has to be spun. (And I'm probably not helping, huh?)

Oh well...

Iraq War + Just War = *Does Not Compute!

2008-09-20T23:45:00.000-07:00

I keep hearing people talk about the war in Iraq like we're suppose to be there. Like it's a "Just War." Heck, even Palin said it.

Alright, I'll bite. Please explain why God wants us there in terms my simple mind can understand. I'll try my hardest, but so far I can't see it. And no I don't consider myself to be a pacifist.

But first, I'd like you to do it this way:

Bloop! *Jen waves his hands*

I just made Jesus appear in the flesh, right in front of you. Actually He's sitting on your desk right now looking at ya (yes, He's smiling).

Now with Him staring right into your eyes, I'd like you to explain to Him why we have to be in Iraq killing His people (take that anyway you'd like, be it American soldiers, Iraqi civilians, Terrorists or all of the above) and how that is furthering His kingdom and fullfilling the Second Greatest Commandment.

When you're done with that, please type what you told Him in the comment section.

If you'd like to know, when I tried, my eye's watered up and I ended up apologizing for all the damage we are doing in His name.

Now it's your turn! And no, I don't want you to start typing right now. I'm serious. Have a heart to heart with our Lord before you dare touch that comment link.

That is all.

I'm interested to hear what you all come up with.

Spencer Landen!

2008-09-18T16:20:00.000-07:00

Say hi to my 7 hour old nephew Spencer! He's a little glucose junkie right now but other then that, him and Amy and Robert are doing great! He's 19.5 in. And 6 lbs 8 oz. When the Einck's get home in a few days, I'll try to get a photo of Lily and Spencer posted! Heck I might even get Ethan in there too!

ha.

2008-09-16T23:36:00.000-07:00

So Rachel showed me this video of two boys "singing" and dancing to an annoying song and I thought it was kinda funny.

But then she showed me a follow up video of two guys impression of it 15 years later and that's when I cracked up!

Just thought I'd share it with you all, seemed like a nice break to depressing political posts!

Is anyone listening to the rest of the world?

2008-09-14T01:35:00.000-07:00

Sadly this probably won't make much of a difference, though it should.

(These results are from over 22,500 people polled in 22 countries by the BBC where Barack Obama ended up being favored by a four-to-one margin.)

The countries most optimistic that an Obama presidency would improve ties were US Nato allies - Canada (69%), Italy (64%), France (62%), Germany (61%), and the UK (54%) - as well as Australia (62%), along with Kenya (87%) and Nigeria (71%).

(Click the graph or the link above for the rest of the article.)

Read this link and discuss:

2008-09-13T07:31:00.000-07:00

It's about how the Republicans and Democrats have been lying in their advertising. Very interesting, though at the same time, not new information!

Very worth the read.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26682305/

And I'll save some of my remarks for later, but McCain's got some explaining to do.

Guess who's an Uncle?

2008-09-08T09:22:00.000-07:00

Yes, my brother Sam. Who else? Sure, Robert is too....And? Can you think of anyone else?

No! Duncan is the new father! Who else can possible be a new Uncle?

Stop it! We're not talking about Duncan's brothers!

Me! ME! ME! ME!

Jeez!

Anyway, thanks for stealing my thunder...

Little Lilly Grace was born at 3:59am this morning weighing 7lbs and 8oz!

Rachel and I got the call this morning and plan to see the Hizzey's later today. Just to give you a heads up if you have Maya's number, she's resting the rest of the morning but a text message probably wouldn't hurt!

And I don't have any pictures yet so this is the first picture that came up after I google image searched "Uncle Jen". Scary huh? It's like looking into the future...

Come on and take a free ride...

2008-09-08T00:35:00.000-07:00

Okay, you have to watch this:

Am I going insane? Here, watch it again:

Yeah, I still don't get it. How can these people talk like that? Do they seriously not remember what they said on television only weeks and months earlier? Lets check:

Nope, they just seem like idiots. Hmmm...And they have people who still listen to what they have to say? Okay, one more time before my head explodes...

I give up...We're doomed because of people who actually believe every word that comes out of people like Rove.

Dem and Rep Speeches Wordled...

2008-09-06T23:48:00.000-07:00

So there's a website called "Wordle" that takes words that are entered into it and creates a word-cloud picture with the most used words becoming larger. I thought the website was interesting the first time I heard of it but couldn't really think of how I could use it. Well I came across this site who Wordled a bunch of the Democratic and Republican Convention Speeches. Doesn't say much, but I thought it interesting none the less.

Here is Obama's:

And McCain's:

And I'm sorry but I have to point out that I cracked up when I saw that McCain's was black and white because the computer picks out the colors by random... :)

Click here to see the rest of them.

The Odd Couple

2008-09-03T22:38:00.000-07:00

Sorry, I couldn't help it. :)

Now the following is a little rant on current politics. As always, I must strain that I am open to others opinions and that I don't claim to be 100% right or that I have all the information. Simply, this is my brain at this moment so please don't get offended. If you haven't been following along, I've been a Obama fan for a while. Do I expect everyone to be? No. Even after all my own personal reasons? No. Why? Because I understand that no President has ever won with 100% of votes. Simply put, everyone has their own life and they differ and different parties or candidates will relate or promise to satisfy certain groups of people. Wherever you fall in there I can most likely understand why, though I may not agree. Can you say the same?

This is what I like about the idea of politics. The potential for give and take and dialog. We must be not only willing to talk with each other even though we may have different opinions, but more so be willing to listen. (Though that's I guess easy for me to say here since this starts out pretty one sided! Though I hope you hear my heart.) So many times I find that entering into a political discussion with people seems taboo and it really shouldn't be. As long as we can have cool heads, be willing to laugh at ourselves and at the very least be willing to say at the end, "I agree to disagree" then I think we all have a chance.

Okay back to the post: please don't get me wrong, I just wasn't expecting Palin is all. And I'm not going to talk about how I think it's a silly attempt to grab some still-bitter Hillary supporters, or about her "trooper-gate" scandal or even get into her family.

What I'm saying is this:

If you are going to vote for McCain you must realize that at his age, the VP pick is even more important. And no I'm not saying that since Obama is only 47 so we don't need to worry about his, but seriously their 25 year old age gap is as old as I am. It's weird that no one seems to want to really talk about it, but at the tender age of 72, simple math tells us that McCain will be 76 by the end of this next Presidential term.

Oops-did I forget to mention that the 2008 CIA World Factbook has the "Life expectancy at birth" for males in the United States at 75.29 years?

Yes I understand that it's just an average. No I don't want to come off as an ageist or morbid and I'm not claiming to be a mathematician, but these numbers have to scare you a little right? I mean seriously, Alaska wasn't even a state until McCain was in his 20's!

And hey, I'm not the only one who thinks that John McCain would be too old to run for President in 2008:

And yes, I understand that he would be having the best health care that money can buy. But did you know that the scar on his face is from surgery from one of the 4 melanomas (skin cancer) that he's had removed since 1993? The last one was a Stage IIa in 2000 which has a 10 year survival rate of 66%. That means that if he were to win the Presidential Election, he not only would be the oldest President sworn in (Reagan currently holds the spot at age 69) but would also be closing in on that 10 year mark. A quote from the link above (cancer.org) also said, "Other factors aside from stage may also affect survival. For example, stage for stage, older people generally have shorter survivals. The biggest drop begins at age 70." Again, I don't want to sound morbid but this forces everyone to closely look at his VP choice, because she would seriously be only one heartbeat away from leading our country.

So who is this Palin person everyone's talking about? One thing I don't understand is why the McCain Campaign is willing to give up one of their favorite attacks, Obama's age. They will have to do this because Palin is THREE YEARS YOUNGER then Barack. And how he's only spent 8 years in the Senate and how that wasn't enough...Okay yeah, let's instead pick someone who was Governor of Alaska for less then 2 years and before that spent 2 terms as Mayor of a town SMALLER then Gig Harbor. Don't get me wrong, I think Chuck Hunter is a swell guy and all, but I bet if you asked him if being Mayor of Gig Harbor is good preparation for running the country, that you wouldn't be surprised by his answer.

I especially loved Cindy McCain explaining that Palin has National Security Experience because Alaska is close to Russia.

And finally, it doesn't just come down to physical health. A lot of people have been talking about Ronald Regan and how they think he may have started to show symptoms of his Alzheimer's during his second term. Things like increasing forgetfulness and loss of stamina are all concerns that are following him around.

Not to mention his difficulty with being able to identify with people my age. For example, his inability to (or simple lack of interest in) using computers. I'm sorry, but like it or not, computers are a huge part of our society today and for a potential Presidential leader to not understand this tool, simply amazes me.

But I'm a gentleman, so I'll let Mrs. Palin have the last word:

How to Paint the Mona Lisa in Less Then 1 Second.

2008-08-30T09:01:00.001-07:00

Okay I'm in the middle of a bigger post, but my brother sent me this and it just made me laugh. It's a video of Jamie and Adam, the guys from Mythbusters. They are at a Nvidia show where they created a machine to Blow Your Mind. (Make sure you watch for the slow motion replay at the end.)

I'd Rather Deal With Hanging Chads...

2008-08-22T23:01:00.000-07:00

Yeah so this is ridiculous. (Link)

Why do we put such an important decision in the hands of such an incompetent company? (Diebold changed it's name to Premier Election Solutions last year.)

Is paper really this difficult? That the "convenience" of electronic votes overshadows that each vote (or even most of them) actually get counted?

Do you know how I want to do the voting for this years presidential run? How about we just have a blue tinted photo of Obama with his name in a bunch of languages (including braille) and heck, shaped it like a donkey. It can even have info printed on the back. Then another one of McCain but this one is red and shaped like an elephant. Then they place one in the box.

Yes, not perfect and still pretty slow at counting but at least no one would look like that guy in the picture.

And yes, this won't solve the problem with other stuff that needs to be voted on and might be a little wasteful but I'm going to stop before I talk myself out of it!

I just think that we need to make voting for our president as simple as possible. There really should be no question afterwards of iffy votes and what not. That because of bad design (OR BAD SOFTWARE CODING) that people don't get their votes counted. Sadly, it's hard enough getting people out to vote let alone not counting them after the fact!

AHHH!!!

Sorry, just frustrating to think that we're leaving these important decisions to machines that are KNOWN and PROVEN to be faulty. It feels stupid even typing that sentence.

Oh Man...?

2008-08-20T15:44:00.001-07:00

So my sister Robin just showed us this video. Cracked me up. Guy has talent.

Vacation...House

2008-08-19T11:41:00.001-07:00

So Rachel and I are celebrating our 2 year anniversary today! Time flies...

So we're taking a little vacation this week which should be fun, despite the rain! (We thought we planned it so well, you know mid-August.)

Anyway we're also putting in a bid on another house
out in Purdy. Prayers would be appreciated!

Speed Walker!

2008-08-17T12:29:00.000-07:00

So as I watched the Men's 20k walk race (speed walking) I pondered how there might not be any baseball or softball in the next summer Olympics...I'm going to say that again.

I was watching men in Beijing with numbers pinned to their jerseys race each other on a track by walking fast in a Official Olympic Competition (complete with a Gold Medal) while (as it stands now), over 300 athletes from around the world in both baseball and softball won't be able to compete in the 2012 Summer Olympics because they were voted off.

Good call. Let's keep awesome sports like Race Walking over Baseball and Softball because it's way more entertaining. You have no idea how much there is to the sport until you hear three TV announcers struggle to fill the silence of an 80 minute 20k race with their "technique", how important their corner turns are, and what a good opportunity it is for the athletes to break away when a competitor swings by a refreshment cart to grab some water. I'm not even kidding. I shudder to think what they talk about during the Men's 50k race.

And no, I'm not saying they're not true athlete's (they basically walk each mile in around 6 and a half minutes) and I know that this sport has been in the Olympic games for about same amount of time as baseball. I'm just saying, do we really need something like this when there are other long distance foot races? I mean, the Women's Team Table Tennis was right after the racewalking and I'm not tearing into them because, heck at least nothing else at the games are like it.

So I started to think, why the heck would London (where they 2012 Olympics will be held) not want Baseball and Softball at the games? What, would they rather play, Cricket or something?!

And then I found this article. It's about how a "London legislator wants cricket in the 2012 Olympics" and is in Beijing right now meeting with the International Olympics Committee trying to press his case.

Riiiiiggghhhht. Let's go ahead and replace a sport that has been played at the Olympics for the last 100 years and is truly played around the world with a sport that isn't. On either account.

If for some wacky reason it does get approved, there are two ways for us to respond. Either we boycott it or we load our team with a bunch of Major League Baseball players and send them to play.

Whadya think?

check dem brakes!

2008-08-15T23:54:00.000-07:00

So I just realized that in the past month that I've had to flag down 3 drivers that were driving in front of me with only one working break light. And the last driver had only their left one still working (her middle led lights must have been broken). So that got me thinking, those were only cars that were in front of me, how many other people are dangerously close to not having any working break lights and not even knowing it?

So for your safety and for those you share the road with, I think it's time we all check to make sure all our lights are working properly, how does that sound?

And while your at it you might want to check your windshield wipers because it's suppose to rain most of this next week here in the NW.

Just a friendly reminder! And pass it onto a friend!

Whew!

2008-08-13T14:21:00.001-07:00

What a summer!

I can't believe it's the middle of August and this is my first post this month!

Well, I have a lot to share from this summer and I apologize for it taking so long to get to them!

Some stuff I did the last few months that I want to post about:

My New York Baseball Trip (including my thoughts of the Virgin America flight)
Mission Trip
Summer Camp
Marques Wedding
NW Furniture Bank
And much, much more!

Until then, please enjoy this hilarious video called "Font Conference" that my bro showed me:

Praise Rings

2008-07-15T17:31:00.000-07:00

Yep, I'm back for about two weeks before heading off to camp! It's been a busy couple weeks with my New York trip, Sequim and Mission trip but I'm home for a little breather! I have lots to post but I'll wait until I can get my thoughts in order and have a moment to reflect.

Until then, I've been playing around with a business idea for a while and I thought I'd share it with you all.

During church service on Sunday, a cell phone rang. Yeah, I know that's not "unheard" of but I was just thinking about it. The funny part is I think it's always adults because they either don't know how to use their phone or their phone is so old it doesn't have a silent feature (yes Mike, I'm making fun of your cell again). We've tried putting a slide up in the beginning of service asking for phones to be shut off or silenced but that hasn't fixed much (you'd have to be early to service and looking at the announcement slides).

So my idea? Sell "Praise Rings." Think about it, across the country - no, the world - I could sell people new ringtones of people yelling out "Hallelujah" "Preach it!" and "Amen!" That way, when their phone rings during service, people won't really notice! Yeah I know, sometimes my genius astounds even me...

So any of you want to help start up my venture?

New Ride at the Mall!

2008-07-11T14:22:00.000-07:00

I've got to try this someday! Though knowing me, I'd probably end up getting stuck between them or something...

FMV Showboat!

2008-07-09T14:50:00.000-07:00

So a few weeks ago Rachel let me buy myself a belated bday gift. What was it? Rockband for my PS2! If you don't know what Rockband is, it's like Guitar Hero but way better! If you don't know what Guitar Hero is...it's like a video game for people who like music.

So unlike Guitar Hero (that is until the new one comes out) this game not only comes with a guitar controller, drums and a microphone, but can accommodate another guitar so someone can play bass! So you can have your band of four rock out together and it's a bunch of fun!

It took me a year or so to warm up to Guitar Hero but my buddy Mark was right, as soon as I started I'd get hooked!

I was even surprised to find that I enjoyed singing! I didn't think I would enjoy the karaoke part of the game - but I guess it's in my genes!

Anyway if you're ever in the area, swing by and lets rock!

Happy Birthday to Sam!

2008-06-27T12:44:00.000-07:00

So Sam's 21st birthday was last week and his present (from the fam) finally got in from the mail yesterday and he came over to pick it up!

It's a Korg Mini-KP. What's that you ask? Well, it's a touchpad that lets you mess with the incoming audio. It also runs off of batteries so it's portable and he'll be able to mix his music where ever he wants. So now instead of just using computer programs to make his music he can use the 100 programed filters to distort sounds and songs. Like me that may mean nothing to you, but if you know Sam he'll be able to put it to good use. Here's a video of him trying out the different effects.

...give me some peanuts and cracker jacks!

2008-06-26T22:08:00.000-07:00

So this weekend I'm headed to New York with my buddies Dave and Matt to see some baseball games! This is Leg 4 of our "Baseball Road Trips" and Shea and Yankee Stadium will be numbers 13 and 14 for ballparks we've visited. Here's a google map of the Ballparks I've been to.

This all started after Dave and I saw a MasterCard "priceless" commercial with a few guys trying to see all the ballparks and we both looked at each other and said, "why not?" So for our Senior Trip after graduating High School we drove down to California in his parents van and saw games at Pac Bell Park (later known as SBC Park and now AT&T Park), Oakland Coliseum (where we got to root for the M's!), Dodger Stadium, Qualcomm Stadium (now the Padres have Petco Park), Edison Field (now Angels Stadium of Anaheim - side note: Changing their name to "Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim" because they're close to LA is as ridiculous as if the Oakland Athletics wanted to call themselves the "San Francisco Athletics of Oakland"), and Bank One Ballpark in Phoenix (now called Chase Field). The following year we flew out to Colorado, stayed with my sis and saw Coors Field. And last year Dave and I saw games at Miller Park, Wrigley Field, US Cellular Field and finally the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome.

The best part is out of all those parks so far, I've yet to find a ballpark I like better then the one in our own backyard! (Bank One probably came the closest.)

Anyway, the real push to see the New York ballparks is that they will both be torn down after this season because their new parks are being opened for next season. And we just have to see 'The House that Ruth Built'!

I'm also looking forward to flying there too! Weird huh? We were able to get tickets on Virgin America and since my post on them last year, I've wanted to try them out. So we'll see if they are as good as they say they are. If so, they just might be able to distract me long enough to forget how exhausting flying has become.

So we leave Saturday and get back Tuesday (yep, short trip!) and hope to squeeze in some sites and maybe even some disc golf!

You know what? I should probably post about some of those trips. Tons of stories!

Rainier Ballgirls got to step it up!

2008-06-26T08:22:00.000-07:00

Okay, so it's a Gatorade Commercial and not real (snopes). I still think it's cool how they used clips from a Rainer's game though! Speaking of Rainier's, The Easton's and Blaisdell's are going to a game on Friday! You should come too, and don't forget to stay for the Friday night fireworks!

My Wife Made the Gateway!

2008-06-25T18:45:00.000-07:00

She's in the bigtime now!

If you haven't seen the Gateway article yet, click here!

It talks about the Harbor WildWatch and seaStars and Beyond programs.

If you get the paper, Rachel's in one of the photos.

And Harbor WildWatch does some pretty fun stuff so if you have a free afternoon you should go down and visit Rachel! Here's their summer schedule.

That is all.

Our Boy Is Growing So Fast!

2008-06-25T12:30:00.000-07:00

So Rachel and I received a new picture of Zakeyo, our World Vision child. He just finished the 2nd grade where he scored 90% in math and his favorite subject is English. Isn't he awesome?! We're so proud!

If you're still teetering on sponsoring a child, what are you still waiting for?! How can providing a child with food/water, health care and education compare with anything else you can do with your money?

These kids are 'the least of these' that Jesus was talking about!

So click on the World Vision banner on the right side of this page and check it out.

And if you're looking for other options, I wrote about some in an old post: People starving and I need to go on a diet.

Best Game Ever.

2008-06-18T00:15:00.000-07:00

So Mike showed me this website yesterday and I just have to share it with everyone! It's from a group called "Improve Everywhere" based out of New York and they live up to their name. Basically they devise something silly to do in a public place and film the reactions of people around them.

This one is my favorite, it's of them showing up to a little league game and cheering them on like it was a professional team (you have to watch the whole clip!). Others on their site have over 200 people freezing for 5 minutes in Grand Central, 50 people loitering in Best Buy wearing blue polo shirts and khakis, and doing a musical in the middle of a mall food court among a ton more!

So if you got a few minutes, their site is definitely worth a peek!

Browser Bonanza!

2008-06-17T10:00:00.000-07:00

Okay maybe "Bonanza" is pushing it, but it sounded good!

So you're probably looking at this page in a browser and that browser is probably Microsoft's Internet Explorer, tsk! tsk! Have I taught you nothing?

Well if you haven't tried Firefox 2 yet, today is the first day you can download Firefox 3 and the folks at Mozilla want to set a Guinness World Record for the most downloads in one day (there were over 1.6 million downloads on Firefox 2's release day), so click the cute fox on top of this post and help each other out!

But why Jen? Why do I need anything other then IE? Good question! Like what I said when I posted back in December about the social Flock Browser,

So whether you check it out or not, always remember that you have options. If your cell phone company had three free cell phones available, would you take the first one offered or would you be curious which one had the best features? Range? Battery life?

That's what it's like for browsers. Most people simply use it because it was the first thing handed to them not realizing that you have free options! Firefox 3 has phishing and malware protection, built-in spell checking, session restore (hate it when loose all those tabs? Well you can turn off firefox and when you turn it back on, all of them are back where you left them!) and full customization with tons of tools and extensions that can be quickly added.

And now that the browser has become another platform for web apps like google docs, photo editing, etc. speed is a big issue. So what's so special about Firefox 3? A Mozilla engineer claims, "Specifically, it takes 60 milliseconds to change Gmail from showing one message to another with Firefox 3, ...compared with 413 milliseconds for IE 7 and 227 for Firefox 2." Yes, we're talking milliseconds, but that's still quite a difference! They also added one-click bookmarking (that's favorites for you IE peoples) and a new smart location bar (address bar) that uses an algorithm to try and predict where you want to go.

And you Mac Safari guys aren't off the hook! Just because you own an Apple, doesn't mean you have to settle for the Safari browser! Not only does Firefox 3 support Macs, the Mac version was designed to look like other Mac software (because so many Mac owners are so proud of their elegantly designed computers that we wouldn't want to mess it up with an ugly pc look would we?). This is great because there are still plenty of websites that are not optimized for Safari but are for Firefox.

And if you're like me and have been using the Flock browser, Flock 2 is in beta and should be out soon! (I'll let you know when.) For those of you not in the know, Flock is based off of Firefox code and was recently voted number 6 out of PC World Magazines Top 100 PRODUCTS of 2008. Yep, products. It not only beat out all other browsers in innovation this last year, but tons of software, hardware and services like the Nintendo Wii, Mac OS 10.5, and Adobe Photoshop CS3. I don't know if I would have placed it as high as they did, but I have enjoyed using it these past 6 months!

Anyway, downloading starts now (10am pdt) and the sites already down! But try anyway!

Click here to check out a faster and safer browsing experience!

Wha?

2008-06-12T10:56:00.001-07:00

Can they really say that on Television?

Joan

2008-06-10T18:15:00.000-07:00

Hey guys, we just got word that Rachel's Grandma had a heart attack and is at the Hospital. If would pray for her and the family, I'd appreciate it. Her name is Joan and her husband is Jack.

*Update: She is okay now and on 3 days of bed rest. Thanks guys!

2008-06-10T16:44:00.001-07:00

Cell phone test.

This would be funnier if it wasn't so true!

2008-06-06T17:43:00.000-07:00

My sister sent me this link to a funny SNL skit, Don't Buy Stuff You Can't Afford.

SNL offers a revolutionary debt and money-management program. Chris Parnell teaches Steve Martin and Amy Poehler the secret to financial success. It's all detailed in a new book called, "Don't Buy Stuff You Can't Afford." Every debtor in America should read it.

Funny and a good reminder, all wrapped up in a nice neat package!

my impromtu thoughts on the Iraq War

2008-06-06T09:30:00.000-07:00

Hey, so if you haven't heard, Obama has essentially won the Democratic nomination! Finally, a candidate! We can move on!

In all honesty, I hesitated to post another political article because I was afraid that people in my church might be offended.

Well, I apologize for letting that get in the way.

I've heard that some people don't want Obama to be president because of his stance on the war.

Okay.

Warning: The following rant are my own thoughts. I claim no authority on the truth and assume that I'm probably mistaken or don't fully understand, some of the following statements. As you read this (if you choose to) please understand that I believe everyone is entitled to their own opinion and that at this moment, this is mine. More then anyone agreeing with me, I would rather have people simply do their own research into why they believe what they do. And if you want, I'd love it if you posted it online too (not necessarily in the comment section, but whatever). Also it turned out a little long, so grab some popcorn. I'll wait.

I was actually for the war in Afghanistan. I was so angry after 9/11, I wanted that to happen. I wanted to get someone back, make them pay. But when we never finished the job and started sending all of our soldiers to Iraq, I was confused. If this was the 'War on Terror' then why are we turning focus away from Bin Laden? How was attacking Iraq going to help us find him? Why are we in Iraq again?

Please, someone tell me.

First it was Saddam and WMD's. Remember? Yeah, hope you also remember that we never found any. How can any President "pull the trigger" on such terrible "evidence"? I'm sorry, but war should be the LAST resort, it's not something that you do just because you feel the other guy's lying. War is not a game, it's not a poker chip to see if a guy is bluffing, real lives are/were at stake. I mean don't get me wrong, Saddam was a terrible man, but we shouldn't be running around the world with our military like we own the place.

Oh, and we caught him and killed him already. (Wait, where is Bin Laden? Oh yeah, still hiding...) So let's see...The war in Iraq began on March 19, 2003 and we caught Saddam in a hole on December 15, 2003...Wow, less then 9 Months! And just in time for Christmas! Now lets see...Afghanistan war started on October 7, 2001...Today is June 6, 2008...Wow! It's been almost 80 Months! And we still haven't caught the man who actually claimed responsibility for what happened that terrible Tuesday, seven years ago. Hmmm.

And remember how they promised us that the oil was suppose to pay for this? Oh wait, never mind. Let's just pay the over $540,000,000,000 ourselves instead and not focus any of that money on health care or education. That would be silly, I'd much rather blow my tax dollars up, way more exciting then making sure that every kid in our great nation has the right to be healthy (we could afford to give to over 230,000,000 kids!) or paying a teacher what they're really worth. Or what if our country invested in their up and coming leaders? That's right, what if we decided to spend that money on University Scholarships instead (over 81,000,000 1 year scholarships!)? That could guarantee a one year scholarship to just about every person in our country from age 0-18.

I've never understood that one. Honestly, if some politician where to ask for $500 Billion to give to education over the course of the next 7 years, he would be labeled a lunatic! A crazy person. Yet, we didn't even flinch to okay that money on war? What are we teaching (sorry - maybe that's the wrong term here), what are we SHOWING our kids as to what is truly important? And that's just the war in Iraq ALONE. This Congressional report from a few months ago puts "The Cost of Iraq, Afghanistan, and Other Global War on Terror Operations Since 9/11" at $700 billion. And what do we have to show for it? Bin Laden? A secure Middle East? A positive world view of our foreign policy (this sparked a Guinness World Record for the Largest Anti-War rally at 3 million people)? Do we now feel safe in our country? People, this isn't Monopoly money! And unlike what they originally told us, we actually have to pay for this, it's not like we're going to just declare bankruptcy or anything. Hmm...

Don't know about you, but I wonder who's receiving all that money. Why are we in Iraq again?

Joesph Stiglitz, a Nobel prize-winner in economics having also spent four years on Bill Clinton's Council of Economic Advisers and another three as chief economist at the World Bank (not a man you can ignore on this subject), just stated that he estimates that the TOTAL cost of this war will be THREE TRILLION dollars. A quote from the article (which is a must read):

Some time in 2005, Stiglitz and Linda Bilmes, who also served as an economic adviser under Clinton, noted that the official Congressional Budget Office estimate for the cost of the war so far was of the order of $500bn. The figure was so low, they didn't believe it, and decided to investigate. The paper they wrote together, and published in January 2006, revised the figure sharply upwards, to between $1 and $2 trillion. Even that, Stiglitz says now, was deliberately conservative: "We didn't want to sound outlandish."

Oh and just to put that into perspective for you, as this presidential election heats up and they start talking about the future of Social Security, remember: Three trillion could have fixed America's social security problem for half a century (statistic also from the article).

Another guy did the math and has us spending $6000 a second. Sweet.

And for every one that believes that this is God's great nation, then why are we in Iraq? I don't consider myself a pacifist, but I have such a hard time thinking that if Jesus was truly in charge of our country, our people, that He would truly want us there. Seriously, we are able to conclude that this is His answer? What are we doing in Iraq?

And now it's about spreading Democracy to Iraq. You know, helping them create their own government. Sweet! I'm glad we handed the country back over to them on June 29, 2004! And that they had their first election on January 31, 2005! Mission Accomplished! Oh wait, that was on May 1, 2003! But you know what? I have a hard time feeling that we are qualified to help them anyway since we don't exactly have the best track record. Didn't the CIA fund and train Bin Laden (that article was also written over three years before 9/11)? Wait, who put Saddam in power again? Oh yeah, we did!

Yes this turned into a rant. No, I'm not looking so much for a reaction as much as I just want people to really THINK about what our country is doing. Don't just link 9/11 with Iraq because they tell you to. Do a little research. And even if you still think they are the same thing, fine. But just ask yourself, has it been worth it? Is this truly what Jesus would want us to be doing?

Forget about the waste of all that money. Let's finish by focusing on the lives that are being lost. "The American death toll is approaching 4,100; the number of wounded tops 30,000." That does not include coalition casualties. And that definitely doesn't include the conservative estimate of 84,000+ Iraq civilian deaths from violence since the war started. These aren't numbers. They are people. People not with us anymore. Has it been worth it? Is this something we can ever be proud of? I can't in good conscious defend this war. But can you? (Yes feel free to post WWII statistics, I just believe that the pretense of why we are currently at war are slightly different.)

And I have friends and family that have served in both Afghanistan and Iraq. I'm not booing soldiers, I don't consider myself anti-american. Just the opposite! I love my family and friends and just don't think that their life is worth us being there. This last year I had my brother-in-law and one of my best friends in Iraq. Every time I heard of soldiers dying I felt a deep pain in my stomach and selfish relief when I found out it wasn't them. I respect their service and sacrifice for me so much and it tears me up inside to think that I could loose them. My life isn't worth theirs.

Do you want to know why I think they haven't attacked our soil again yet? Why would they need to when we are sending them all the Americans they need right now? These people are crazy. They are willing to blow themselves up just to kill a few of us. Do we honestly think we can change that mentality by sending an army to occupy their land? Does that make any sense?

And on that note, let's not forget that we invaded Iraq against the UN's decision! How arrogant can we be? An article about The International Commission of Jurist in Geneva had this to say before the war:

Many other prominent experts on international law have joined the ICJ in denouncing the aggression against Iraq as illegal. At the centre of their argument is the general ban on force stipulated in the Charter of the United Nations, for which there are just two exceptions: self-defence against an armed attack and a definite decision on the part of the Security Council. Neither of these provisions is applicable to the war against Iraq.

The rule governing self-defence applies only when an enemy attack has already taken place or is imminent. There is no legal sanction for a preventive war. Should a state regard itself as threatened by another a state, although no hostilities have taken place, the threatened state is obliged to call on the Security Council—the only body authorised to legitimise military action in such a case.

Let me repeat that, "There is no legal sanction for preventive war." And we cannot ignore this part of the article either:

Murswiek warns that the US is establishing a precedent with far-reaching repercussions. “When Bush says he is not required to ask anybody’s permission, this cannot just be attributed to the arrogance that comes with power. There is a legal issue at stake... If this standpoint becomes established and becomes a new rule of international law, then the general ban on force will have been done away with in a practical sense.”

We bypassed the UN. We claimed that we are outside their authority. Despite anything else I say, we can all agree that Bush has brass ones. But seriously, if we don't obey international law, how can we expect to hold any other country to it? What is the point of having laws if you're not willing to obey them? What if EVERYONE took our own countries laws this flippantly? Utter chaos right? Then why would we allow our government to do that to INTERNATIONAL LAW? Just because "we" didn't agree with their decision? So we only have to obey International Law when we agree with it? Hmmm...

*Jen takes a seat.

Funniest. Tailgate. Ever.

2008-06-01T23:53:00.000-07:00

So I went to Eburg this weekend (got to hang out with Casey!) and on the way home we passed this truck that had a mural on the tailgate of it at a lakeside. Yep. It had a custom paint job and then a picture of itself on itself. Awesome.

I'm now thinking about doing it to my Acura, what'd ya think?

sigh.

2008-05-29T01:06:00.000-07:00

I've neglected to write this all week because it's been busy, but I feel I must write something now.

I think people are taking this Hummer thing a little to literal. For me, it was more of a joke. Yes, a little juvenile, but I was hoping that people would have a sense of humor (on both ends) and get over it.

No, it was not meant to change anything. It was more of something that came out of frustration at people's impulsive nature. Don't you ever get frustrated when you see someone make a stupid decision? Doesn't it drive you crazy to see it happen over and over again? Go a little nuts when you realize you have no power to stop it?

That's me and people buying H2's. I can't see anyone that owns one being able to give me a valid reason why they must have that over another vehicle that could do the same job (and still cost plenty of money so they can show off) whether that is hauling people or stuff and get twice the gas mileage.

Someone asked me today why we care so much about H2's. Because their gas tanks are twice the size. Period. They quite literally use twice the physical gas to go the same distance as everyone else. That's insane when we currently live in a world that's running out of fossil fuels.

So let's focus on that and forget that they weigh over 4 tons and share the roads with us. And what other nations think of Americans driving blinged out versions of the military vehicles that occupy their streets.

Or any other reason for that matter.

Stupid? Sure. But I got to tell you, when we came up with this stupid idea, we did it not motivated by the reactions of other drivers (though we probably should have taken that into consideration) but with our minds on how decisions like these effect people all over the world. How we are at war right now to secure oil and are quite literally pissing it away in vehicles like this (no not the ones in Iraq, but here in the U.S.). Those are real people dying there and decisions like these make me feel that people just don't care.

I really didn't want this to get anyone upset. Please don't take me too seriously, I know I don't!

And if you were wondering, this was a response to replies left not on my posts, but Blake's. I've been waiting for a backlash and even though I have been quoted and alluded to in replies on his posts, no one has bothered to bring any of what I have said to my attention. Makes me feel that Blake seems to be a tad "targeted." Which is sad. It's almost like some people are trying to find anything they can wrong with a person that has all the best intentions.

Why do I care about being "green"? I'll save that for my next post. I wonder if you can guess the reason, cause I doubt you've ever looked at it this way.

wow.

2008-05-27T18:11:00.001-07:00

So I remember last week hearing about how Clinton had referenced Robert Kennedy's assassination with a lot of people implying that something like that could be a reason why she is still in the running. I remember hearing it and feeling a little sad. Because she either really was misinterpreted or a very sick person. Either way, I was sad.

What I didn't know was how that wasn't the first time she had mentioned it. I came across this article that mentioned how she has said "it" multiple times. Really? How can someone imply such a thing as political assassination?

I don't know what to think. It just makes me feel sick to my stomach.

If you want to read the article, here it is. I think the author, Keith Olbermann laid it all out pretty clearly.

I guess I should be reading happier stuff on my bday but whatever.

I would be interested to hear your thoughts on the article.

Go Green By Buying Used Cars

2008-05-19T23:34:00.000-07:00

So I came across this interesting article where this guy says there are plenty of efficient, used cars out there and that you're not necessarily going green just by buying a hybrid. Here's a quote:

As Matt Power notes in this month's issue of Wired, hybrids get great gas mileage but it takes 113 million BTUs of energy to make a Toyota Prius. Because there are about 113,000 BTUs of energy in a gallon of gasoline, the Prius has consumed the equivalent of 1,000 gallons of gasoline before it reaches the showroom. Think of it as a carbon debt -- one you won't pay off until the Prius has turned over 46,000 miles or so.

He continues to give lots of options of different cars and how buying used is not just smart for saving gas, but also helps you created a smaller carbon footprint. And isn't that what it's really all about?

Basically when you're looking for a car you should ask yourself, "Am I comfortable owning this and buying gas at $8 a gallon?" Honestly that's not that far fetched, it's what Europe is paying right now.

Also when I told my wife the other day that Hummers have a 32 gallon gas tank, I liked how she framed her response. Rachel said, "That's like us paying $8 a gallon to fill our cars!" And that's precisely it! If you own a car, your gas tank is probably close to half that. And since both vehicles travel roughly around 300 miles per tank, money-wise they might as well just own a car and volunteer to pay double for the price of gas! That really puts it in perspective for me. My wife is so smart!

A Polite War On Hummers

2008-05-16T09:47:00.000-07:00

So I was driving around with my buddy the other day and we decided to call a polite war on Hummer vehicles for the next month. Why a war you ask? Well, they are a military vehicle, I thought they could handle it. I'm a sociologist at heart and wonder what would happen if people who owned Hummers would react to social pressure.

The idea? A simple thumbs down when passing someone driving a Hummer. Now, this is not suppose to be malice in any way. No making faces, not in a threatening manner, I'm not even going to shake my thumb up and down. I'm simply going to to stick my hand out my window and calmly point my thumb down as if to say, "I don't appreciate your decision that affects everyone around you. I do not believe you thought out your purchase all the way through." I believe that very few people would be able to cite a good reason why they need one over any other SUV or van for that matter. So could we make people think twice the next time they purchase a vehicle? And then I found out that (surprise, surprise) we were not the first ones to think of doing this.

But H3's aren't that much worse then other SUV's, you say. Yes and no. You are correct that there are other SUV's that have similar gas mileage marks (as H3's) but that doesn't change the fact that they are still on the bottom of the rung when it comes to fuel economy. And since they perpetuate this sick, iconic american value and are easy to point out, they are getting singled out. I mean seriously, who truly needs one of these vehicles?

I was trying to find out the gas mileage of an H1 and H2 and found out that they don't officially exist! Why? Well let me tell you! They don't exist because vehicles that weigh over 8,400 lbs, are exempt from revealing their gas mileage to consumers! Yep, it is so heavy it's a specialty vehicle along the lines of a tractor or commercial work truck (yeah, the average person truly needs that!). And another thing, I'm now really scared about sharing the road with an 8600 lbs behemoth when all I drive is a "paltry" 3500 lbs Sedan! Seriously? If you collide into something this big, you're done - that's just how physics works. It would be worse then two cars (stacked on top of each other) hitting you. These people should have to pass special licensing to drive these monstrosities! Anyway the fuel economy is a closely guarded secret though it is commonly agreed upon at around 10 (woohoo! Double digits!). The problem is that since the H3's are the only ones that have a fuel economy sticker on the window, most people assume that the H1's and H2's are similar yet in reality, much worse.

On top of all that, JD Power and Associates ranked them dead last among 36 brands in customer satisfaction reporting 225 problems per 100 Hummers over all, compared with an industry average of 133. This was based off of 52,000 people surveyed who bought or leased a vehicle, asked if any of 135 potential problems emerged in the first 90 days after delivery.

The number one complaint? Fuel consumption - Shocking! I guess that's just what happens after you fill your 32 gallon tank for the first time (of many). Honestly, what could they expect? They're driving a 4 ton box around town to run errands.

And don't even get me started on their commercials. They show these actors driving them all over the world - desert, jungle, beaches, and my favorite - into the forest to go nature hiking. Yeah. First off, all the cargo room would be filled with gas tanks to get them there and back and secondly, I can't see any true nature lovers justifying such a purchase. Come on people, wake up and vote with your wallet.

*Here's Blake's anti-hummer summer post.

It's so me it's scary...

2008-05-14T16:31:00.000-07:00

Secondhand Jackhammers

2008-05-11T21:23:00.001-07:00

So today was Mother's Day and I was looking for a funny/cute picture to put on here and I ran across this one which I've seen before. But this time I saw the date, 2004. And I realized that in a few years this kid will stumble upon it and I'm wondering just what kind of fun conversation they're going to have with his/her mom...

Oh, and it does check out on snopes.com. If you don't know what snopes is, it's a website that tracks down answers to urban legends and such. Really handy to use before you forward any of those emails to me (hint, hint).

I love you mommy! Thanks for not smoking and staying away from jackhammers...

Moving on...

2008-05-08T09:16:00.000-07:00

So Rachel and I are packing up today. If you haven't heard, our wonderful stay at the Clark's Homestead is coming to an end. We're packing up and moving out this weekend! It's a blessing to have family willing to take us in for a few weeks as we figure out our next move. We'd like to get our own house soon (know anybody?) and are working towards getting our pre-approval and everything.

Crazy stuff. So everything's going into a storage unit and if you are able to lend an hour or two either Friday or Saturday, let me know because we might need your help! And if you're not available, don't "sweat" it because eventually we'll be wanting to move our stuff out of there and you'll get a second chance!

It amazes me the amount of stuff two people can accumulate in such a short time. I'm hoping a lot of purging happens between our stuff here and our storage unit...that'll require me being able to ignore my normal tendency to cling on to worthless items!

We'll keep you updated on how we're doing. Thanks for the prayers!

Procrastination is a dish always served cold...

2008-05-06T22:03:00.000-07:00

Don't ask me how I found this...This is a "Procrastination Flow Chart." Click it to see a larger/readable version.

10 Things to Recycle That You Never Thought You Could

2008-05-05T07:41:00.000-07:00

So I found this article about semi-odd things you can recycle and what do you know, I reused it's title! I'm so green that way...

10 things to recycle that you never thought you could.

Anyway, quick easy read and maybe there's something in there that you have laying around the house you can give life back to!

And here is Morgana's Slideshow she did of our wedding. Fun fun.

Hey it should be real nice today, hope you spend some time outside!

A perfect day...

2008-05-03T23:01:00.000-07:00

So I was listening to music on my computer and it landed on this song, "Slow Motion (The Instrumental)" by Third Eye Blind. It immediately reminded me of the slideshow that Megan and Sam put together for our wedding ceremony. So I dug it up and thought I'd throw it on the ol' youtube for everyone to enjoy! I thought it was very well done and always reminds of a perfect day.

Also, now that Youtube lets you upload files up to 1 gig, I can finally upload the slideshow that Morgana Wingard made for us of our wedding. I'll let you know when I do.

Have a pleasant Sunday!

I have a gas problem Part Duex

2008-05-01T22:38:00.001-07:00

So Rachel's car was low on gas this morning so I had her take my car so I could fill hers up at costco (only$3.60!). But as I was driving out there I actually started to fear that I might run out of gas! So what did I do? I went into "conservative-gas-saving-mode," don't you? I stopped accelerating hard and coasted when I could. And I also started thinking of where other gas stations were between me and my destination. But then I started thinking, why don't I drive more conservatively all the time and not just when low on gas? By making each tank go further I can save the environment as well as my money.

I think part of my problem is if you know me, I'm usually late places which in turn causes me to probably drive in a more urgent fashion. So if you're like me, you can kill two birds with one stone. (Heck we shouldn't be throwing stones at all.)

How about we just stop being late and start driving smarter (not faster) instead?

So if it helps, start thinking as you drive like you are out of gas (minus the searching for gas stations part).

If you need some more specific tips:

Watch your speed! a. accelerating quickly and braking hard are both ways of wasting fuel. b. driving at high freeway speeds actually creates more drag forcing you to use more gas. "each 5 mph you drive over 60 mph is like paying an additional $0.20 per gallon for gas" c. maintaining speed by coasting is more efficient then constantly accelerating so use your cruise control when on the highway and no tailgating!
Use your windows! By choosing fresh air over air conditioning you'll be around 5% more efficient! Though when at higher speeds, roll up your window to reduce drag (studies show that after 40 mph it is more efficient to keep you windows up).
Check your tires! Under inflated tires can reduce your fuel efficiency by another 5% (starting to add up huh?). Tire pressure often fluctuates between seasonal temperature changes (like from winter to spring - hint, hint).
Check your air filter! When was the last time you replaced it? Can't remember? Then its probably been too long? Generally it should be down once or twice a year depending on how much you drive.
Mind when/where you're driving! a. Combine your trips so you're driving less back and forth from your house. Better yet, plan your route in a circle of errands and not criss-crossing around town. Also try planning trips around rush hour (duh, Jen). I know very obvious but it needs to be said - stop and go is terrible for gas mileage (and sanity). Maybe your job allows you to shift your work hours or even work from home a day a week? Couldn't hurt to find out...And park in the shade, not only will it be more comfortable when you get back, less of your gas will evaporate into thin air.
Mind what you're driving! If you're shopping around for a new car and plan to still be driving it in three years, would $7 a gallon gas prices have an influence on what vehicle you pick? Because you should click on that link to read about our near future. If you own a suv because you go snowboarding 3 times a year, I would rethink that if I were you. There just might be more economic choices...
No junk in the trunk! Every pound you take out of your vehicle is less weight you pay to lug around. Maybe it's time to do a little spring cleaning in your car...when was the last time you actually used your third row of seats? Can you pull them out? Still have a ski rack on? Heck, people are going as far as to say we as Americans should be exercising a few pounds out of our cars!
And park it! Yep you guessed it, the best way to save on fuel is to use alternative modes of transportation. Planes, trains and automobiles - oh wait, I meant bike, walk and mass transit/hitch-hike. And lets throw in carpooling here too. It might not roll off the tongue as well but I think it'll catch on.

Man that list got longer then I had anticipated. And a tad convicting for myself...So which ones are you planning on doing this week?

People starving and and I need to go on a diet...

2008-04-27T22:49:00.000-07:00

Here is an interesting article on our potential future life here on earth.

The opening paragraphs sum it up nicely/sadly:

The world is an odd place. A tight global food situation with record-high grain prices presents the possibility of increasing malnutrition, perhaps famine, in parts of Africa and South Asia. Yet an estimated 1.6 billion adults, about a quarter of the world's 6.7 billion people, are overweight, some of them obese.

As a result, chubby Americans are spending roughly $1 billion a year to lose a few pounds with special diets, treadmills, etc., while hundreds of millions in poor nations are scrambling to buy enough food to add a little weight. "You couldn't write any stranger fiction," says Joseph Chamie, former head of the United Nation's Population Division.

Something is seriously wrong when we eat so much food, we need to spend money to get rid of our excess fat. How glutenous is our nation?

And that's not all, what about all the food we just throw away because we either can't finish it all or it goes bad before we can eat it because we are too busy eating other food?

There has to be a better system to live in...

Luckily despite all that we can still make a difference. If you haven't yet, please consider sponsoring a child (trust me you won't ever regret it). I don't think I've told you all about our first son Zakeyo Zulu. He's a cutie from Makungwa Africa (the town with Brian's Well). Or maybe $30 a month is too much for you right now. How about $7 a month? Back in December I wrote a post about the Mocha Club, you can read it here (and there is a link on the right hand side of this page). Or maybe $7 is too much, so how about just playing a game? I also wrote about a website called FreeRice.com where if you answer a word problem correctly they will donate rice to the hungry (there's a banner at the bottom of the page).

There. Now you have plenty of options on how to help, so get to it!

spontaneity

2008-04-22T22:04:00.000-07:00

So I just had to share this with you...

Blogger lets you save drafts and work on them until you're ready to post them. So whenever I have an idea of something to write about, I start a blog post and then come back later to finish it. Well I was looking through my drafts and found one titled, "spontaneity". I couldn't remember why I titled one that so I opened it and found nothing written in the body of the post. Yep, nothing. Nadda.

I am completely astounded with my awesomeness.

Anyway, it cracked me up and I just wanted to share that with you. Hopefully it brightens your day as it did mine!

Snowmen fall from heaven...unassembled

2008-04-19T08:52:00.000-07:00

It was snowing this morning. If anyone tells me that they don't think what we are doing to the environment isn't affecting anything, please tell me the last time you saw snow in Gig Harbor on April 19th! It's going to be officially summer in two months! How are we suppose to fit in a proper spring before then if winter won't roll over and die? I'm sorry guys, but I'm solar powered. I need sun!

hcc bickering

2008-04-16T14:36:00.000-07:00

This may be a mistake. Recently I have begun to fear that what I write on this blog might later be thrown in my face. Despite the disclaimer on the right, since I work at a church I feel that I almost need to watch what I type. And not from the staff, but from people in my congregation. And that's sad. And though I do appreciate and need accountability, I don't appreciate indirect censorship. So if you read this blog please do so with the knowledge that these are simply my current thoughts and feelings. And that though some may be fleeting, today they may have found their way to my keyboard. If you have issues with what I write, please comment or talk to me directly.

I am Sad about how some people in our church are bickering. I love diversity. There is something scary about a church that only allows you in on a very strict line. I would rather have someone attend that feels welcome even though they might not agree 100% with me then to make them feel that they don't belong. Now I hope that doesn't make you feel that I don't have firm convictions, rather that I'd prefer to be in conversation with that person over naught. Wouldn't you?

I'm not threatened with someone disagreeing with me and I have faith that we can find answers in The Word. There seems to be a fine line between the feeling of security and the reality of exclusiveness, one we better make sure we don't stand on the wrong side of. Now that doesn't mean I want to throw out all our truths and values but I do think our focus is off. What I love about the Evangelical Covenant Church is how focused they are with the essentials. It isn't about how we are different but what we have in common.

Our church is in the midst of transition as we are looking for a new Senior Pastor. With this in mind, we have decided to go over the Covenant Affirmations and some people have found that it isn't specific enough for them. But for me, the first affirmation "Centrality of the Word of God" says most of it and that we can find the details in there. There are plenty of denominations out there that want everyone to fall in line with specific things but the ECC would rather us wrestle with these details together then allow them to divide us (again as long as we agree with the essential Affirmations).

When I run into another Christian on the street I am happy that we share something so important in common. We are followers of Christ. But what if he was a Baptist or Presbyterian, etc.? Is he still my brother in Christ if he's not a Covenanter? Well, if we agree that the same Jesus Christ died for our sins and was raised and that the same Bible was inspired by God and is trustworthy and useful for life (by no means do I claim this to be a definitive list), then I would be willing to say yes. (This may be coming out wrong, but I hope you hear my heart.)

And maybe it's because I'm a sociologist, but what I love about the ECC is that I can have that inside my own church! We are a group of people diverse in thought, upbringing, salvation story... and yet we believe in these essentials, and that makes us a family. I want people to ask questions and force us to ask the Covenant motto, "Where is it written?" I don't want new people to have to sign off on a list of 50+ things before they can enter. I want them to know first that we care and want to invest into their lives and not force them to change everything just for them to feel accepted by us.

The details? I'd rather wrestle forever about them with you then for one of us to have to leave. And I believe that is the church that Jesus was talking to Peter about. I think He is sad every time we bicker and divide. Don't you see? The ECC is simply trying to keep satan from splitting up the church again, yet in a round about way he seems to still be able to.

If you are still with me, I'd like to end on a funny note so please click here!

And let me know if any of this made sense. I've been trying to word it correctly for two days now and I'm just tired of having to reread it! And also by no means do I want anyone to think that HCC is going down the drain or anything! It's just something that I've noticed and needed to vent.

I'm Not Sexy.

2008-04-10T10:51:00.000-07:00

So I get an email out of the blue by a Marian Call aka Emily Butler who you might know as Emily Pew. Yes the one who married Colin Butler - sorry I mean Stone!*

Anyway, her signature had a link to her myspace page and I found her music very fun and refreshing and of course, uniquely Emily.

So take a minute, click on her banner and have a listen! And help a sista out and buy a few tracks, I know I will! Every independent artist needs a little help and heck your music collection could use a little class!

*proudly plagiarized

Comedy Countdown

2008-04-10T01:31:00.001-07:00

So I ran across this list from ifc and nerve where they ranked "The 50 Greatest Comedy Sketches of All Time." It's worth a look, there's some funny ones in there though what's with The State not doing any better then 36? Man I miss that show... Anyway I can't really say I agree with their top 10 but hey what do I know? I just like funny stuff. Here's another State vid that I found on Youtube that didn't make the list:

Embedded Video

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How I Spent My Spring Break...

2008-04-04T18:01:00.000-07:00

So during Spring Break our youth group does this thing called Project Serve. We scout out a few service projects and the students sign up. It's pretty cool because these students are not only giving up days of their spring break, but they are also paying us money that covers food and transportation! Talk about selfless.

Anyway, yesterday we went down with Northwest Furniture Bank (who teamed up with Komo4 News, Sleep Country, and Operas Big Give) to bring mattresses and furniture to a warehouse in Chehalis. It's all meant to go to the flood victims and is replenishing the donated furniture that was burned up in a fire a few weeks ago.

It was really cool and ironically enough, King5 did a better job covering it from our angle. So if you click here and watch the video you might see a few people you know.

Today we went to Tacoma and worked on houses with Habitat For Humanity and tomorrow we are headed for Seattle to feed the homeless.

And as a friendly nudge, I encourage you all to look into helping Habitat For Humanity. They are an awesome organization and can use help in anything from building houses to helping in their offices. Anyone can pitch in, we had a van-load of 12 year olds today! Got a free afternoon? Want to help make someones life better? Give'em a call, if you need the number just ask!

Poetic Justice.

2008-03-31T10:58:00.000-07:00

This was just too funny to not pass on.

Sony BMG caught pirating software

I said, "Happy Easter!"

2008-03-23T09:19:00.001-07:00

Haha. You know, I've seen this comic around for years and it still cracks me up! I hope it holds true for you. To everyone out there, I pray a great day for you. May we all understand just a little bit more about this guy named Jesus.

Say Cheese!

2008-03-21T14:29:00.000-07:00

So if you don't know already, Rachel and I started a picture website at www.eastonfamily.smugmug.com. Essentially, we had a ton of pictures on our computers and wanted to have a backup of them and also wanted to be able to share them easier.

If you've never heard of smugmug before, it's a great website that for only $40 a year (or about $3 a month) you can store all your photo's online. But Jen, there are plenty of free sites you could have used!

Yes, but none with the control that we have with smugmug
Plus the security (4 backup copies of each photo in 3 states)
Unlimited storage and bandwidth (read viewing traffic)
No ads
No need for visitors to sign up to see the pictures (which means less spam for you!)
No need to buy photos to keep them online (go ahead and read the fine print on your "free" site)
They are more likely to stick around (from their website: Pay sites rarely close; many free sites—even from Yahoo, Adobe, HP, Canon and Microsoft—have closed.)
And real people to answer your emails! (Seriously, I've asked them questions before and get a personal, non-scripted reply always within 24 hours!)
We've had one for the youth group for almost two years now and have been nothing but impressed by them and the ease of use.
They have editing tools and lots of areas that can be customized

So it's been about a month and we've uploaded most of our digital pictures so hop on over and look around! We're still working on organizing them better and digging up the remaining pictures lurking around our hard drives. Please let us know what you think! With almost 25 gigs of pictures already (over 7000 photos) there's bound to be one of you around!

And if you are interested in getting your own, let me know because I can get you a $5 off code and also, they give you a few weeks to try it out. Plus then we can link you to us as friends/family.

My Brother Sam

2008-03-19T12:41:00.000-07:00

Hey so sorry for not updating this lately, I was running our middle school youth group's "winter retreat" this past weekend and all the last minute stuff took up every minute! Don't ya just hate that? You'd think after a few years I'd get some of this stuff down...

Anyway, just finishing putting together youth group tonight and have been listening to some of my brothers music on myspace and thought I'd share it with you because the guy is full of talent and has an amazing ear for music.

I posted back in December about my brother Sam's Mog site but have neglected to tell you about his Myspace Music page. I go there to listen to his latest creations, my favorites right now are: 'Tree Full of Leaves,' 'Airstrikes and the Women Who Love Them' (where my brother took a recording from our trip to hawaii of the flight attendant, reversed it and sped it up as the vocal track), 'Green Means Go,' and you have to listen to 'From the Roots' (where he added in the sounds from some youtube videos amongst some of his own recordings with friends).

So check it out by clicking here!

Also if you want to hear what he's been listening to, you can check out his personal myspace page and listen to his playlist.

Oh and by the way, I took that photo of him at Ocean Shores a few years ago, still one of my favorites.

Who Ya Gonna Call?

2008-03-05T23:23:00.000-08:00

So there's something strange in the neighborhood. It took your cell phone, now that's no good.

Alright, alright! Sorry.

So a month or so ago I finally bought a sim card reader. Now you may be thinking to yourself, "I've heard of a sim card before!" That's right. Pretty much all your cell phones have a sim card that designates your carrier and usually also stores your phone numbers.

Since this little card stores all your contacts, it makes it handy when you switch between or upgrade your phone. But it also makes it a horrible loss if you loose or have your phone stolen. Because not only do you now not have a phone, but your address book is gone! Honestly, how many of us are good at remembering numbers now that we simply have them programed in our cell phones? Heck, half the numbers I have I probably didn't even enter, I just saved them when someone called me! That means that I've never typed in these numbers before in my life!

How many of your phone numbers do you have written down in case you loose your phone? Important work numbers, friends and family? Maybe you do, but they're probably scattered and not up to date and you still have to enter them back into your new phone one at a-painfully -slow time.

This is where this sim card reader comes in! You simply pop your card into it and plug it into your computers usb port and after a tiny program gets installed, there you go! All your numbers are digitally backed up! Now if anything is to ever happen to your cell, you just need to pop in your new card and transfer the data onto it. Or say you never did back up your numbers but your friend has a bunch you need, they can copy all of them and transfer them onto yours in a few minutes and mouse clicks verses typing them all in individually.

So why am I telling you all this? Because I now own one and have backed up my numbers and want to make this available to you too! So if you know me and would like to borrow it, or would like me to help you do it, just ask! Just do it now and not after you need the numbers!

I took away the first hurdle, though if you want your own, they're only about $5 on ebay!

That's not a whole lot for peace of mind.

Would You Like a Mint?

2008-03-01T21:20:00.000-08:00

So the other day I started an account with Mint.com. Mint is a website that organizes your personal finances. I know what you are saying, "Jen, why the heck are you trusting a website with that kind of data?" Good question. And if you know me well, I do quite a bit of homework on techy stuff and found their Privacy & Security page satisfying. Plus I do all of my banking online anyhow, and am looking for something to help me get all my banks and credit cards organized. Rachel and I have been using Microsoft Money, but I find it rather clunky to use at best. Plus, Mint.com will give suggestions on better cards or savings options based on my accounts. Now that is good info to have, but I was skeptical on what kind of information they would be using/sharing.

That's where the EULAyzer comes in. This cool little program takes the EULA (End-User License Agreement) that no one wants to read and flags any interesting words or phrases before you click the "I Agree" button.

So don't forget to use EULAyzer and I might post later about my thoughts of mint.com.

A Bank Worth Investing In

2008-02-25T21:27:00.001-08:00

For those of you who know the Lemke's, this article from the News Tribune today describes a dream come true. It's about the an organization they started called The Northwest Furniture Bank. Ignore anything distracting for the next 5 minutes and read this article.

http://www.thenewstribune.com/front/topphoto/story/292021.html

Fun With Words!

2008-02-24T23:01:00.000-08:00

Here's a fun flickr mashup, it's called "Spell With Flickr." Go to the link, type up a word and it will replace your letters with pictures of letters from flickr.

Here's my name:

Have fun!

Bogey's Song

2008-02-22T08:56:00.001-08:00

So if you didn't go to the High School's winter retreat last month, you may not understand this video, but I'll try to explain it the best I can. Bogey set a cup of water down and it fell over and landed on Nick's ipod and cell phone. I'm pretty sure everything still worked but he and Storm still decided to write Eric this song. Thing is, it's pretty catchy. Turn it up because the best parts are when Storm (on the guitar) chimes in!

Embedded Video

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Josh Needs Cash

2008-02-14T11:17:00.000-08:00

So this morning I go to feed the horses and found something running around the pasture. I got closer and found a young golden retriever very interested in the horses. He would run up to them, get scared and run back, turn around and repeat.

So I get out there and tell the dog to go home. I waved my arms and yelled, "Get! Go!" But in true golden retriever fashion, he just thought I was playing with him. I gave up and fed the horses and afterwards found that the dog was getting closer and closer to them. Not wanting him to get hurt, I threw a horse lead on him and took him up to the house.

I tied the muddy dog up and went inside to tell Rachel that she now had that dog she always wanted. Instead of keeping the cute thing, we decided to make a couple signs to put at the main road and walk the dog around to see if it would lead us home.

As soon as we get to the road we heard someone yelling up the hill. I yelled back, "missing a dog?" The guy said yeah back and as soon as he saw his dog, this grown man ran down the hill wiping his face and gave his muddy dog a huge hug. When he looked up, we could tell that he had crying for a while. Poor guy must have been through hell, while his dog was playing with horses and eating treats!

We found out that his name was Josh and his precious dog was Cash.

All in all a good start for the day, lots to do!

This is a test message...

2008-02-13T13:54:00.001-08:00

This is a test message to try out Jott.com to post a blog. listen

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cokehead

2008-02-12T18:03:00.000-08:00

So I forgot to give you all the results from my previous post of me trying to go without any coke for the week I was at the Midwinter Conference. And I just know that you guys have been on the edge of your toes! Thank you for being so patient!

Anyway for the week, I counted that I had declined 16 opportunities to order a soda. First off, isn't that crazy for one week at a convention?

So I did a little math (I know, my mom's going to be so proud!) and I figured that I saved myself from probably over 3700 calories! Yep, almost two days worth of calories just in a weeks worth of soda! And if that's not shocking enough, I kept myself from consuming over an extra 1000 grams of sugar! The best visual for that you ask? That would literally be like me eating a 12oz can full of just sugar every other day during that one week (over 35oz). If you're keeping count, that's way over the suggested 12 teaspoons of added sugar the average adult should be consuming. And that's not even including sugar from other stuff I eat that day! Kinda gives me a new perspective on Coca-cola making sugar shakers (and you thought they were just a novelty item).

So what do I suggest? If you know me, then you'll understand how hard it is for me to say this. We all should be cutting down on the amount of soft drinks we are consuming because they are just tasty empty calories. They provide little to no nutrition and just give you a quick/short energy boost and lots of calories leftover to burn.

Water. Lots of water. It's free, usually tasty (at least in the northwest) and drinking ice cold water actually burns calories!

Though during the meal I really missed the soda, in hindsight it made no difference. I know that sounds pretty obvious but at a restaurant, I'd prefer a great tasting meal with water then a bland meal and a refreshing drink. So looking back, I enjoyed the tasty food and the water did it's job by cleansing my palate and washing it down. Way to go water! You saved me from unneeded sugar, calories and caffeine.

Jen, enough of the political stuff!

2008-02-08T11:24:00.000-08:00

So I'm getting tons of viewer mail asking what's the deal with all the recent political posts. Seems you guys want the old funny guy back. Well too bad imaginary viewers!

Why? Because I'm excited! Last time I wasn't really thrilled with our prospects, this time - dang! In all honesty, I haven't been real happy with how we have treated the environment and how we have dealt with other nations over the last 3+ years.

For example, did you know that the US and Kazakhstan are the only signatory nations still to not have formally sanctioned the Kyoto Protocol? And Kazakhstan has signed it, and we are the only nation in the world to actually refuse it? Honestly? Even if our government doesn't fully understand why we should be a part of this, wouldn't the fact that 90% of the other industrialized nations (including North Korea and Iran) that see the significance, tip them off? We are suppose to be a world leader, now we're not even following correctly.

I see real potential in changing this next year. If that's not exciting, check your pulse. We've been placed in the handbasket already, your vote determine's which direction it goes...

This is a music video based off of Obama's "Yes We Can" Speech.

And here is that speech. Either one is worth watching.

Have fun tomorrow at 1pm!

Life In a Fishbowl.

Bday!

What a year.

Hello!

Thank You!

We have a house!..kind of...

Ninja Parade!

Week in Review

Long Time, No Type!

cakewrecks

Fly Shop!

25 random things.

16 ways to save money

A snapshot of our economy

do you like nerdy surprises?

You may have heard it, but have you read it yet?

Packwood '09!

Happy New Year!

Merry Christmas!

Sledding Fools

Engrishfunny.com = ror

I broke my Jawbone...

Happy Turkey Day Friends!

I did it!

Ninja-mail!

Bike Hero?

More efficent blog reading...

Survivorman...sniff...

Change.gov?

My mom voted!

Ummm...

I Knew It!

Rachel's Bday!

$10,150,603,734,720

How Racism Works...

And for those Joe Sixpacks playing at home...Maverick. Krspt!

You are registered to vote right?

emailed.

Iraq War + Just War = *Does Not Compute!

Spencer Landen!

ha.

Is anyone listening to the rest of the world?

Read this link and discuss:

Guess who's an Uncle?

Come on and take a free ride...

Dem and Rep Speeches Wordled...

The Odd Couple

How to Paint the Mona Lisa in Less Then 1 Second.

I'd Rather Deal With Hanging Chads...

Oh Man...?

Vacation...House

Speed Walker!

check dem brakes!

Whew!

Praise Rings

New Ride at the Mall!

FMV Showboat!

Happy Birthday to Sam!

...give me some peanuts and cracker jacks!

Rainier Ballgirls got to step it up!

My Wife Made the Gateway!

Our Boy Is Growing So Fast!

Best Game Ever.

Browser Bonanza!

Wha?

Joan

This would be funnier if it wasn't so true!

my impromtu thoughts on the Iraq War

Funniest. Tailgate. Ever.

sigh.

wow.

Go Green By Buying Used Cars

A Polite War On Hummers

It's so me it's scary...

Secondhand Jackhammers

Moving on...

Procrastination is a dish always served cold...

10 Things to Recycle That You Never Thought You Could

A perfect day...

I have a gas problem Part Duex