All Now Mysterious...

Friday, March 31, 2006

Two For the Road

Part I: Friday's Feast
Friday's Feast, 31 March 2006.

Appetizer Name 3 things that you think are strange.
Only three? Okay, here goes:
1. Professional wrestling
2. Napoleon Dynamite
3. Breatharianism

Soup What was the last ceremony you attended?
Some of what normally takes place in church every week could probably be considered 'ceremony'. So last Sunday.

Salad What is one lesson you have learned in the past year?
The 48-hour rule is nonsense. Call her.

Main Course Tell us about one of your childhood memories.
I was Ebenezer Scrooge in a 5th-grade production of "A Christmas Carol".

Dessert If you could extend any of the four seasons to be
twice as long as normal, which season would you want to lengthen?

I like spring, and we don't get it much in Utah. It usually goes from winter to summer in about 3-6 weeks. So doubling that would give us a proper spring.

--

Part II: Top Five on Friday
Top Five on Friday from The Music Memoirs:

Top 5 albums you wish you had in your collection. (If you want,
tell us why you want these albums.)

» Earthbound by Rocket Scientists
I love this group's work and have their other two studio CDs, but this one is out of print. One of the band members e-mailed me about two years ago saying they were working on a special edition re-release, but that never ended up happening. I've found it on sale used, but not for less than $35, which is more than I'm willing to pay for a CD at present. The CD is available for legal download, but that doesn't give me the liner notes. Ish.

» Honky Tonk Union by Roger Clyne & the Peacemakers
I'd had a hard time finding this CD for less than $40, so I've never bought it. But I saw it for $12.98 on Amazon today, so it likely won't be on this list much longer.

» Which Way From Here by Micky & the Motorcars
Once again, It's been hard to find this one. The only place I've found that has it is the band's web site. This will likely fall off this list soon, too. Once I get a real job.

» 1962-1966 (The Red Album) by The Beatles
For some reason, I never seem to remember this CD when I'm in a position to buy. I have the "Beatles 1" grestest hits collection and a couple of Anthologies, along with "Sgt. Pepper's". I need to add this one soon.

» 1967-1970 (The Blue Album) by The Beatles
See above.

My Computer, The Jukebox

I finally got that issue with the sound card on my new computer figured out. I identified the correct card and searched for the best available drivers. The computer did some downloading, then told me I was already using the best driver. So I fiddled with some things and finally found the source of the problem: P.E.B.K.A.C. (Problem Exists Between Keyboard And Chair).

In other words, I had the speakers plugged into the wrong port. Silly me.

I've got quite a bit of my CD collection moved to my hard drive now. I've successfully downloaded both WinAmp and Windows Media Player, and both are working nicely. And I've got new speakers that I found at an exceptional price at Big Lots.

So in short, I have a nice little sound system going now. The new speakers have got great volume and clarity, plus one thing my old speakers never had: a lot of power in the low end. For a guy like me that played tuba, trombone, and electric bass, as well as singing bass/baritone in various choirs, it's a nice sound.

And Doom sounds amazing.

Wednesday, March 29, 2006

Hand In Hand

Yes, it's another engagement photo.

Saturday, March 25, 2006

More Martimonial Magic

Here's a picture of us in front of the building where we are to be married in 27 days (and counting).

Nancy and Michael at the Salt Lake Temple

Tender!

Friday, March 24, 2006

Two For the Road

Part I: Friday's Feast
Friday's Feast, 24 March 2006.

Appetizer How would you describe your personal comfort zone?
My comfort zone is best described in terms of familiarity rather than space. Unfamiliar situations make me more uncomfortable than violations of my personal space.

Soup What is your favorite tree?
A Christmas Tree. It means I'm with people I love.

Salad List 3 foods you'd like to include in your dinner plans for tonight.
We're going to Macaroni Grill for dinner tonight, so I'll say pasta, salad, and fresh-baked bread.

Main Course What is the best advice you've ever been given, but didn't heed?
I don't always heed this advice, but I'm getting better. From my friend Wendy Kay:
"I don't have to attend every argument I'm invited to."

Dessert On a scale of 1-10 (10 being highest), how much attention do you feel comfortable receiving from others?
No more than 5 or 6. I like being appreciated, but too much recognition make me want to shift the focus of people's attentions somewhere else.

--

Part II: Top Five on Friday
Top Five on Friday from The Music Memoirs:

Top 5 Songs that make you feel warm.

» "Warm Wet Circles" by Marillion
In a warm wet circle
Like a mother's kiss on your first broken heart
A warm wet circle


» "The City Sleeps" by MC 900 Foot Jesus
The match makes a graceful arc to the floor
And time stands still as I turn for the door
Which explodes in a fireball and throws me to the street
I hit the ground running with the flames at my feet


» "Fever" by Ray Charles featuring Natalie Cole
Never know how much I love you
Never know how much I care
When you put your arms around me
I get a fever that's so hard to bear
You give me fever


» "Peaceful And Warm" by Kansas
Peaceful memory like lights on a Christmas tree
Every hometown should be peaceful and warm
Every father, mother, sister and brother
Friend of the family
Peaceful and warm


» "Hell" by Squirrel Nut Zippers
Lose your face, lose your name
Then get fitted for a suit of flame

Toasty!

Thursday, March 23, 2006

Happy Together

Here's one of our engagement photos:



If you like it, loyal reader(s), there's a lot more where that came from!

Wednesday, March 22, 2006

Busy Productive Day

We're now at T-minus-30 and counting. I made some definite strides toward getting the new household set up today. A few more pieces of the puzzle are now in place. Slowly but surely, things are coming together.

I've been working on addresses for invitations over the last couple of days. With the engagement photos now taken, we'll be getting the invites out soon. I hope to have a complete address list by Sunday morning.

Change of address stuff was today's theme. I talked to the landlady last night and found out exactly what the new address was. With this information, I started getting utilities arranged today. I got the electric service set up with minimal difficulty. The gas was an entirely different matter.

There was an apartment my ex and I moved away from about three years ago because one of the neighbors became convinced that we had reported him to the police and he made our lives there a living hell. Anyway, due to a miscommunication in the process, we ended up paying for the gas in that apartment for another six months after we moved out. Once we discovered the problem, the gas company disconnected the service and sent us a final bill. I thought. When I called in to set things up today, they pulled up my records and told me I still had a balance of about $75 showing from that incident. I tried explaining to them what had happened, and they said, in not so many words, it was strictly my problem. I could either pay the past due amount, or I could make a security deposit equal to the largest gas bill assessed to the property the previous winter, which I would get back if and only if there was a perfect payment record for the first twelve months. So I paid the past due bill. Gee, it's a good thing I didn't have anything better to spend that $75 on, like a wedding or anything.

Cable and internet are another issue. The main cable carrier here is Comca$t. They have a pretty good deal going on broadband internet service: half price for the first six months, rebates to cover the cost of the modem, and a $75 cash back mail-in offer. Broadband is pretty much going to be a necessity, I think. I can't go back to dial-up. I won't.

Cable TV is another matter, though. the Comca$t package looks pretty good for the first three months, then skyrockets in price. There is another option, a company called USD TV. Their monthly rate is very competitive, but there are a ton of up-front installation and equipment fees. And they only offer about twenty channels, and some of my favorites (History Channel, for instance) are not among them. I haven't really looked into satellite yet, mostly due to concerns about those same up-front fees. Maybe we'll just buy a pair of rabbit ears. That's TV, old school.

I filled out an electronic change-of-address for with the Postal Service too. One of the pages asked about catalogs I may have been receiving and whether I wanted them forwarded. It also asked if there were any catalogs on the list that I wasn't receiving but wanted to. I picked one: Sharper Image. It's the ultimate geek store, and I'm about to go from being an amateur geek to being a professional. I've got to have that catalog.

I also did my state taxes today. I'm getting a $25 rebate from the state of Utah. That's about a third of what I owe the feds for the year. This is two straight years I've come up short. I've got to do something about my withholding.

Now I'm at work. I was supposed to have a training class tonight, but none of the three scheduled candidates showed up on time. That was just as well, though. The production supervisor for the evening called in sick for the third straight day, so I'm taking his place. It's kind of nice to work a shift without really being responsible for it.

And that's about it. I'm about to have to close out several different projects, so I'll sign off for now.

Tuesday, March 21, 2006

Retrograde Motion

Time, as far as we know, moves in only one direction, forward. But the past several days have been pretty busy and occasionally crazy. It's probably easiest to look at them moving backwards.

Monday
I got a couple of pieces of good news on Monday. When the paychecks were passed out, mine was about $40 more than I expected. Upon closer inspection, I found that I had received a raise. A rather substantial raise, at that. I was impressed. Of course, it's all for naught if the check doesn't clear....

The other pieces of good news came from Nancy. She's been trying to sell her old car for about a month, and someone finally bought it on Monday. Also, she got a lead on a new job. This is especially helpful because her internship expires on April 14th. While she has generally enjoyed her current position, all the nasty experiences with Old Girl have made for an often unpleasant (one might say 'hostile') work environment. So moving on will be a good thing.

I got one piece of bad news, too. I'm now dead last in our NCAA Basketball office pool. Two of my Final Four (Kansas and North Carolina) are now watching the rest of tournament on television. While I'm a manager and consequently wouldn't be eligible to win anyway, it's a little discouraging to see how poorly I've prognosticated. I've got a great excuse, though. I can always say, "It's hard for me to get excited about basketball during hockey season."

Sunday
I went to church half an hour early on Sunday to practice with the ward choir. We had our monthly assignment to provide the musical number. A lot of times we do "Instant Choir", where the hymn is announced at the beginning of the meeting, then everyone who wants to sing comes up at the appropriate time and sings from the hymnbook. We have a good group of regulars, so it usually goes off pretty well. But Sunday's assignment was Sally DeFord's arrangement of "How Great the Wisdom and the Love", not the kind of piece where you can sightread and rely on familiarity to carry you through. So we practiced, and we sounded pretty good.

I also practiced as part of a quartet on Sunday. We're giving the musical number and the talks at the VA Hospital's service this coming Sunday morning. We're doing the Manookin arrangement of "Because I Have Been Given Much". The bass part's not very interesting, but it was still helpful to sing with the other three (and with the piano). Interestingly enough, the pianist is one of the ward music directors, and she's been looking for someone to do a musical number next week in our ward. So I'll be singing it twice next Sunday.

The evening was spent at Nancy's house, where I joined her family for the traditional Sunday dinner. We had spaghetti with salad and breadsticks. Then we settled down to watch Pride and Prejudice. She's been trying to get me to see that for the last month, and I finally ran out of excuses. (Just kidding.) She has at least four different versions of it, so when asked, I said I preferred to see the black & white version starring Greer Garson and Laurence Olivier. I love old movies. And I was not disappointed. The show was a lot of fun. I may even read the book one day.

Saturday
Saturday's training session was small, and intentionally so. I asked for (and got) permission to limit the training to no more than six contestants. I wanted to make sure I could get done and out early. I had more important things to do: engagement photos.

I called Nancy after leaving work to find out exactly when and where we were meeting the photographer. She told me she'd had an interesting conversation with her. Out photographer had apparently told her she wanted to reschedule. Great. Thirty-four days until the wedding (but who's counting?) and our photographer wants to put us off a week. Nancy told her no, we were going to do it today. And we did.

We started at the historic Salt Lake City and County building. Despite the rain and cold that had dominated the day, we were able to take a lot of really nice pictures outside the east entrance to the building. We moved to the Joseph Smith Memorial Building (formerly the Hotel Utah) for some indoor shots. Then, as the light was beginning to fade, we went back outside to Temple Square and got a few shots among the flowers.

Our photographer used a digital camera, so we got to see a lot of the shots right then and there. She's going to get a preliminary set of pictures to us in the next day or so, after which we can order invitations. Which means I need to start getting addresses together. Who would have thought a wedding would require so much planning?

Friday
Friday night I wanted to reprogram our computer system at work—with an axe. Or a sledgehammer. Whatever.

Everything was going smoothly enough for the first few hours of the shift. We ran twelve different projects on Friday night, and all but four were over by 8:00. I was able to run all the necessary end-of-shift reports without too much difficulty.

At that point, I was informed that on of the supervisor stations on the call floor had lost contact with the backup machine, rendering one network drive inaccessible from that location. This is annoying, but not a difficult fix. We just have to reboot the backup computer, and that generally solves the problem. The only real problem is that we can't do that while the dialer is running. Solution: wait until everyone has left at 10:00 and restart the backup machine.

I should have left well enough alone.

We have two interconnected computer programs where I work: one that connects the interviewing stations to the dailer and provides the scripts that our callers read, and one that serves as an electronic time card and helps us manage productivity. After restarting the backup machine, I was only able to run about half of the required reports. The time card/productivity program wouldn't work properly. Fortunately, it is possible to get much of the same end-of-shift data from an application in the other program, but it's logarithmically more difficult to read and interpret. And in the end, there was some information I simply wasn't able to get. What a mess.

Why do computers seem to hate me recently?

Thursday
As usual, I spent Thursday night with the Ogden Gaming Consortium. I came to find out that my GM has some really nasty things in store for my character. That's one of the things I like about gaming. Role-playing is a sort of cooperative storytelling experience, and it's fun to see how other players will affect the story. I had to cut out with a headache, but it was still a lot of fun. I'll miss gaming if I end up moving out of state.

Wednesday
My training class on Wednesday was small; only two contestants were scheduled. Ten minutes after the class was to have started, I still hadn't seen either of them. It turned out that both of them rescheduled for later classes. So I did a few logistical tasks and an errand for Jason (my boss), then left. I wasn't sad to have them both cancel. After six weeks of training twice a week, I was ready for a break.

So I called Nancy an found out she was about to start a service project for one of her classes. So I grabbed a bite to eat, then joined her at her office. He classmates showed up shortly thereafter, and we went upstairs to the production area to start.

Nancy works for the LDS Church's Humanitarian Aid department. They get donations of (among other things) health and hygiene supplies in large amounts. They are unable to use some of these donations due to the size or condition of the donated supplies. Those things they are unable to use themselves are passed along to other agencies who can make use of them.

This is pretty much what we did on Wednesday night. We sorted three pallets' worth of soap, shampoo, combs, toothbrushes, toothpaste, and other such supplies into what the Humanitarian Center could use and what would be passed on to a local shelter. We ended up with a large number of boxes of supplies for the shelter. I never thought you could get your hands dirty from working with soap, but that's exactly what happened.

But the fun really started after we left. One of the volunteers had brought a pickup, and we'd filled it as full as we dared and still had plenty of boxes left over. So the rest went into the back of the Dreadnought. One large, heavy box started to break as we were loading it. So I got into the console of my truck and procured a solution: duct tape. Like the man says, if the women don't find you handsome, they should at least find you handy.

With a toothpaste spill of large proportions averted, we set out for this volunteer's home with the pickup leading the way, followed by Nancy's car and then mine. As we traversed 5300 South, I saw Nancy swerve to avoid something. I tried to do the same but was unable to miss the mess entirely. Sure enough, one of the boxes had fallen off the pickup, and there were now hundreds of toothbrushes scattered across the road. We tried as best we could to clean up the mess, a task which was made somewhat easier by the fact that most of the drivers switched lines when they saw what we were doing. Most. Eventually we got the road cleared and made it to the destination, where we unpacked and counted the boxes: thirty-eight.

Afterwards, I followed Nancy home and picked up my computer, about which I've already written in detail. I still have no sound. That will be one of today's projects, I think.

Tuesday, Monday
These two days were both pretty routine. That is to say, I can't remember anything that happened either day that's particularly worth writing about. Whether that's a reflection on the days themselves or on the state of my memory, I'd rather not speculate.

Sunday
It was my turn to teach Sunday School again. While I normally really enjoy teaching the class, I had a hard time getting 'up' for this week's lesson. It was about Isaac & Rebekah and Jacob & Rachel & Leah and Jacob & Esau and the importance of making right decisions. And a lot of it was about marriage, a topic which has been on my mind somewhat of late. But it was hard for me to come up with anything to say. I felt like all I did was read out of the manual. But the lesson went over well. And as long as the class got something out of the lesson, I guess it's not really about what I thought of it.

Saturday
There were two letters waiting for me when I got home from Saturday's training class. Both were from the First Presidency of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. They told me that my previous sealing had been cancelled and that I was now cleared to be sealed to Nancy. At that moment, my upcoming marriage to Nancy moved from the realm of speculation and possibility into reality. We're getting married!

I called Nancy immediately with the news, even though we'd spoken only moments before. She was running an errand, so I left her a message to call me. She called a few moments later, and I gave her the good news. She immediately got us on a conference call with the Salt Lake Temple. We scheduled our day and time, April 21st at 1:00 p.m. Then we talked to each other, and both got a little teary-eyed.

Saturday was also Derek's birthday. I called and talked to him for about half an hour. He seems to be doing well, and fatherhood suits him. I take perverse comfort in knowing that he'll always be older than I am.

Friday
As with Monday and Tuesday above, I can't recall much about Friday. I know that a late night at work was involved. It's probably sufficient to leave it at that. I look forward to teaching so that I can get home from work before 11:00 p.m. on a regular basis.

Thursday
Thursday was Nancy's birthday. I heard once that a perfect gentleman is one who never forgets a woman's birthday, but never remembers which one it is. I'm striving for perfection in this area.

I met her and the rest of the family and several friends for dinner at Johnny Carino's. Good, good food. Nancy had the Spicy Romano Chicken, and I had the Penne Alfredo with chicken. It was wonderful, and the leftovers made my coworkers salivate the next evening. There were about 20 people there, and the waiters were going nuts trying to keep up with us all. I made sure to give our waiter a generous tip. He earned it.

Amongst the dinner and conversation, there were also gifts for the birthday girl. I had found a Sliding Doors DVD on Amazon.com and ordered it for two-day delivery so it would be here in time for her birthday. Alas, when I left for the party, it had not arrived. So I wrapped up an empty DVD case with an IOU note and gave her that. Wouldn't you know, when I got back from the party, there was the box with the DVD, right there on the front room table. Ironic, isn't it?

From there the party moved to Olympus Hills Bowling Lanes. I hadn't bowled in almost six years. The last time I bowled, the only person who didn't beat me was my six-year-old niece. So I went into the event with no particular expectations of success. Imagine my surprise, then, when I bowled a 159. I cleared five straight frames at one point, with four strikes. Everyone around me was amazed and/or impressed. So was I.

Back to the Present
And that brings us to today. We're at T-minus-31 and counting, so some wedding prep will be a part of my day. I need to get some addresses organized, and I should probably get fitted for my tuxedo in the next day or two. I also need to do some laundry, cash my paycheck, pay some bills, and do a little cleaning and packing. A small nap would also work well if I can squeeze it in. A mundane day, to be sure, but that's not necessarily a bad thing.

Cuba

So Japan beat Cuba in last night's World Baseball Classic final. One of the last holdouts of communism falls to one of the world's most historically aggressive capitalist nations. That ought to settle the question of which economic system is best once and for all, eh?

I don't get the whole thing with Cuba—the trade embargo, that is. Sure, Fidel Castro's not the nicest guy around, and sure, communism is not a great way to go, either politically or economically. But why a trade embargo? It doesn't make sense. It seems to me that if we want to change the situation down there, the most effective way to do it would be to overwhelm them with capitalism. This example is unabashedly stolen from Jimmy Buffett, but it seems appropriate.

Let's take all the money our government spends on, say, one day's worth of welfare payments. Cash it in. Get small bills—fives, tens, maybe twenties. Load all that money into a stealth bomber or three, fly over Cuba, and let it rain greenbacks. Probably double the net worth of the entire country in a single pass.

The next day, take those bombers back to Cuba and drop mail-order catalogs. Jimmy suggests Victoria's Secret, but others would probably work, too. Maybe L.L. Bean, Radio Shack, even Swiss Colony. Result: the U.S. economy gets a boost, and the Cuban people get a real taste of the joy of commercialism. The desire to shop—one of the strongest urges known to humankind—leads to social and political change, and communism is out in the Caribbean.

Hasta la vista, Fidel.

Friday, March 17, 2006

What About Barry?

Selig says no decision made on Bonds investigation, the headline screams. With the upcoming release of the book Game of Shadows, Barry Bonds is back in the spotlight. More specifically, the biggest question regarding Bonds is back in the spotlight: Did he use steroids?

I'm told that one of the purposes of a blog is to opine on things sociological. And since this issue is getting so much attention as the World Baseball Classic winds down and MLB's opening day approaches, here's my take on the subject.

First, let me state my personal opinion of Barry Bonds: I don't like him. I think he's arrogant, cocky, self-centered and self-serving. He's rude to the media and he's rude to the fans. It sickens me to see his name listed with the likes of Babe Ruth and Hank Aaron. If I were a major league manager, I'd tell my pitching staff to throw at him every single time he stepped up to the plate. If he suffered a career-ending knee injury as he was rounding the bases on home run #713, I'd be ecstatic.

So no, I don't like Barry Bonds, either as a player or as a person. But is he a cheater? I'm afraid I have to say no.

First: There's really no evidence that he knowingly used steroids or any other performance-enhancing substance. Sure, the upcoming book is full of interviews and reports and other such evidence--all of which is entirely circumstantial. The fact is that Barry Bonds has never, to my knowledge, failed a steroid test. Sure he's bulked up a lot over the past decade. It's certainly suspicious. But suspicion is not proof. And this is still America, and in American jurisprudence, innocence must be presumed in the absence of proof. It's that simple.

Second: Even if he did use steroids, it wasn't cheating. Until very recently, there's been nothing wrong with using steroids, Andro, or any other such things in baseball. Sure it was frowned upon by most, but there was no rule against it. Additionally, it's never been shown that he broke any laws where steroids or supplements were concerned. It's not like he got up in front of Congress, vehemently denied ever using steroids, and then failed a test a few months later. (See Rafael Palmeiro, a first-ballot Hall of Famer two years ago who'll now be lucky to get in at all.) So even if Bonds injected himself with every known performance-enhancing drug under the sun, as long as there were no rules against it, the simple fact is that he didn't cheat. There is no crime if there is no law to break.

Third: Consider the sources. The authors of the aforementioned book are newspaper reporters. They're not cops or detectives, they're not insiders at BALCO, and they're not working for the Commissioner of Baseball. They're journalists. They're interested in one thing only: the story. Consider what they did with their information. Who did they take it to: the Commissioner (wishy-washy and ineffective though he may be)? The President? The Senate? No. They took it to a publisher, and it's going to make them rich. And nothing threatens to compromise the integrity of data more than the chance at big money.

So it's no surprise to me that Commissioner Selig hasn't ordered an investigation yet, because there's nothing to investigate. There's no real evidence that any crime or violation really took place. There's nothing here that we haven't heard before. All the reports and questions are the some reports and questions we've seen for the last few years. Nothing has changed, except that a new set of people has found a new way to cash in on the controversy.

It's the same old thing for 2006. People will go on questioning Bonds, and he'll go on hitting fungoes into McCovey Cove. He'll undoubtedly catch The Babe before the All-Star Game. He may or may not catch Hank Aaron, but that hardly matters now. He's already got the single-season home run record, a record that is unlikely ever to be broken now that steroid testing has finally arrived in baseball. His place in history is secure.

Too bad.

Music Plug

A few days ago, I bought Reckless Kelly's new CD, Wicked Twisted Road. I enjoyed the music a great deal, and I love the fact that the CD comes with its own board game. That's right, there's a die inside the CD case, and the liner notes fold out to provide the game board. But it was something else in the liner that caught my attention.

They have the usual 'the band would like to thank' section. This includes, along with the regular family, friends, and sponsors, names like Horace Manure, Tara Byte, Willie Make It, Betty Won't, and Freida Go Now. Amusing, yes. But what I really liked was the last item:

"...and everyone who bought this record instead of stealing it."

No guilt trips, no condescending "you're depriving us of our livelihood" garbage, no threats to send me to prison. Just an honest expression of thanks for spending a little of my money to support the band.

I like that approach.

So, if you like country music, especially with a bit more bite that what you traditionally see on CMT or GAC, let me encourage you to pick up a copy of this CD. Buy some more of the group's music. Heck, you could even buy the group's sibling's band's music (Micky and the Motorcars). Just do something to reward them for their attitude. I certainly plan to do so in the future.

That is all.

Thursday, March 16, 2006

Two For the Road


Part I: Friday's Feast (Retro Edition)
Friday's Feast, 17 March 2006.

Appetizer What job would you definitely not want to have?
President of the United States (or any other country). Frankly, I'm with Douglas Adams on this one: Anyone who wants to be the President should on no account be allowed to do the job.

Soup Oprah calls and wants you to appear on her show. What would that day's show be about?
"How to Graduate with a Bachelor's Degree in Only 19½ Years"

Salad Name 3 vegetables that you eat on a regular basis.
1. Corn. I prefer fresh corn on the cob, but I'll take canned, frozen, or even creamed corn. Love the stuff.
2. Potatoes. I recently bought a bag of 'taters and have been baking them, making home fries, etc. Good eats!
3. Lettuce. I need to eat more salads. I had a Caesar salad last week and it was terrific.

Main Course If you were commissioned to rename your hometown, what would you call it?
Middleofnowhereville, CO

Dessert If you had a personal assistant, what kind of tasks would you have them to do?
My taxes, for one. I still need to get that taken care of.

--

Part II: Top Five on Friday
Top Five on Friday from The Music Memoirs:

Top 5 songs beginning with "A".

» "Abacab" by Genesis (from Abacab)

» "All Fired Up" by Pat Benatar (from Wide Awake in Dreamland)

» "Aqua Vitae" by Rocket Scientists (from Oblivion Days)

» "Afraid of Sunlight" by Marillion (from Afraid of Sunlight)

» "Africa" by Toto (from Toto IV)

Happy St. Patrick's Day, everyone!

Pardon The Interruption

Sorry I haven't blogged in a while, loyal readers. I've been without a computer for the past week or so. Here's the story:

As long-time readers will know, I've been having problems with my computer for something like six months. First it was the video card, then it started to look like the motherboard itself was becoming twitchy. So I finally decided to replace the computer. And I found quite a deal.

The University of Utah Surplus and Salvage Department sells computers and all sorts of other things that the university has replaced or otherwise has no use for. So I checked out their selection and found a Tangent machine that looked pretty good: 1.25 GHz processor, 256 Mb RAM, and a DVD-ROM drive already installed. Price: $80. Too good to pass up.

Now when the Surplus and Salvage Department takes in a computer for resale, the department they get it from is supposed to wipe the had drive clean. This is intended to protect any sensitive data the previous user(s) may have had on the machine, among other things. I took it for granted that this had been done on the machine I bought. My mistake. Caveat emptor.

So I got the machine home, hooked up all the peripherals, and started it up. I was greeted by a Windoze XP login screen, asking me for a password there was absolutely no way I'd ever be able to provide. Problematic, to say the least.

I tried to get the machine to boot from my Windows 98 CD, with no success. I also tried to get it to boot from a floppy, also with no success. So I figured I'd go in and change the BIOS to get it to boot from one of the two. Good idea, but one problem: the BIOS was also password protected.

So I called Surplus and asked them for assistance. They recommended that I pull off the jumpers and restart it. Tried and failed. I called back, and they told me to call the university Help Desk. I did so, and they told me they had no information on the computer in question and that I'd need to call Surplus to get it resolved. Arrgh. So I called Surplus again, and was then told, in not so many words, that once it's out the building, it's no longer their problem.

So at this point, I essentially had an $80 paperweight.

Fortunately, Nancy's brother and brother(s)-in-law are computer geeks—professional computer geeks, at that. After a conversation with Nancy, I took my machine over to her house to have her brother look at it. I was anticipating that he'd know what to do, and if he didn't, he'd be able to find out quickly. Once again, I was reminded of the old saying that assumption is the mother of all screw-ups. He gave it a great effort, but I finally gave in to the fact that it was going to take him a few days to get it fixed. I guess if I'd been paying attention, I would have come to this conclusion before 1:30 a.m.

That all took place last Tuesday. So I was without a computer of my own for just over a week. But last night, thank the maker, I got the computer back. I've spent most of the day today getting it set up the way I like it: installing programs, downloading appropriate updates and drivers, that sort of thing. And things are looking good. The only difficulty I'm currently facing is that I have no sound. The computer runs great, and a whole lot faster than the other one ever did—but it's as silent as the grave. Nancy's brother said he hadn't checked the sound card, but he was pretty sure he'd download the correct drivers for it. I'll have to go looking for a solution to this little difficulty later.

But for now, I'm back in touch with the rest of the world. I feel so much better now.

Friday, March 10, 2006

Two For The Road

Part I: Friday's Feast
Friday's Feast, 10 March 2006.

Appetizer On a scale of 1-10 with 10 being highest, how intuitive do you think you are?
Maybe an 8. I seem to be able to make decisions that turn out well without rationally being able to explain why.

Soup What is your favorite kind of gum?
I don't chew gum. I had a bad childhood experience. No, seriously. I lost a filling. I don't chew gum.

Salad Name a CD you own that you would never get rid of.
The soundtrack to Cosmos, for two reasons: a) it's probably my favorite CD,and b) it's out of print, so it would be bloody near impossible to replace.

Main Course When was the last time you said something you didn't mean?
This tends to be a sin of omission for me. I'm much more likely not to say something I'm thinking than to say something I don't mean. I don't do shallow flattery well. So I tend to keep my mouth shut.

Dessert What is the sum of the numbers in your birthdate?
1 + 1 + 5 + 6 + 7 + 8 + 9 = 37 - which also happens to be my current age.

--

Part II: Top Five on Friday
Top Five on Friday from The Music Memoirs:

Top 5 "Night" Songs or Albums

» "Night Shadows" by Ransomed Souls

» "Late Last Night" by Todd Snider

» "Seven Nights in Eire" by Reckless Kelly

» "A Night To Remember" by SHeDAISY

» "Last Night" by Traveling Wilburys

Monday, March 06, 2006

Problems, Progress, and the Whole General Mish-mash

I haven't put up a personal entry in a while. Here's a brief update of some important events in my life:

Now We're Getting Somewhere
After several meetings with my bishop and several letters written to, from, and by most of the principal players, my request for clearance to married in the Temple has finally gone to the First Presidency. I had met very briefly with my bishop and the stake president during stake conference two weeks ago, at which time I thought all the paperwork was done. But I got a call the following Sunday afternoon from the stake clerk, requesting an interview with the stake president.

So I went in a week ago Sunday, taking Nancy with me. The stake president and I had a brief interview and reviewed the paperwork one final time. Then he asked me talk about what I liked about Nancy. He was pleased with my enthusiasm.a After a few minutes he asked Nancy to come in, and we continued the conversation. It was wonderful. He said he could tell that we were in love. He said he'd get the forms in the mail that Tuesday. Now it's just a waiting game.

Pleasantly Surprised
Today is payday. As frequent readers are aware, paydays have caused me some apprehension of late. But the payday I had two weeks ago was a lot better. Given the experiences I've had the last two times, I took my last check to Prominent Local Bank fully expecting problems. There weren't any. What a relief.

My letter must have really ruffled some feathers. The Thursday after I sent it, I got a call from our HR person offering apologies (but not really any kind of explanations) for the troubles I'd had. Her tone of voice during that conversation really caught my attention. While she said a lot of apologetic things, she didn't sound apologetic. She sounded nervous. Very nervous.

Then I got another call a week later at work. From the owner. He expressed many of the same apologetic sentiments I'd heard from the HR lady earlier. He also said some things that made me feel like maybe they were getting a handle on the problem.b He thanked me for my patience and for my good work. I have to admit, I was pleased and a little surprised to find out that the owner was getting involved. His general management style, from what I can tell, can best be described by the term 'passive-aggressive'.

Other than that, work has been pretty routine. We've been running training sessions twice a week for the past month or so, and it looks like we'll continue to do so for the foreseeable future. It makes for a long weekend, managing Friday night and then training on Saturday morning. I generally roll in on Saturday thinking, "Didn't I just leave this party?" But the extra hours are sure nice. I've got a wedding to pay for.

In Search of a New Life
I spent most of last Tuesday afternoon writing cover letters, printing résumés, and addressing envelopes. On Wednesday morning, I sent these out to eight public school districts in Utah, plus three private high schools in Salt Lake City and four high schools in Texas.

Texas? Yes. My future sister-in-law is on the Board of Education in a district down there that's opening two new high schools in the fall. When she heard that I had graduated and what I wanted to do for a living, she encouraged me to apply for one of the science teaching positions. I talked to her last week, and she gave me contact information for each of the four high schools in the district. So Texas is probably as solid a possibility as Utah, at least from how it looks now.

I've already started seeing the fruits of my labors. I got a phone call from one of the private schools and a letter from another. Both said there were no positions open at their schools, but that they would keep my résumé on file. I also got mail from one of the districts in Salt Lake telling me to fill out an online application and submit further documentation. I guess we'll see what happens.

More Marriage Madness
I started writing this post almost two weeks ago, so some things have changed in the intervening time. We have now registered for gifts. We chose two traditional stores, Target and Bed Bath & Beyond. Of course we registered for things like sheets and towels and dishes and such. But we've both been on our own for most of our adult lives, and we already have a lot of the stuff that couples usually register for. So we registered for some unusual things, too. Things like tools and games and automotive stuff. I think we even registered for a roll of duct tape. We were in that kind of a mood at the time.

We'vec also chosen dresses for the bridesmaids. At first, those involved chose a green top and black chiffon skirt from Dress Barn. There was only one problem: everyone loved them except for Nancy. And since this is her wedding after all, she ultimately vetoed them.d The final dress is burgundy, calf length with short sleeves. And it's from a pattern. There are enough people who can sew on both families that this shouldn't be a problem. The dresses are nice but casual enough to wear for other occasions. And they're inexpensive, with the fabric, zippers, patterns, and other such things coming to $25-$30 each. As my brother wrote back to me, "Wow - a dress for under $25! Great work."

We've also picked out the tuxedoes. We're going with a black three-button tuxedo with a white wing-collared shirt, plus a vest and straight tie in the wedding colors. The best man (or men) and groomsmen will be wearing burgundy vests and ties, and mine will be sage. They all look really good. This will be only the second time in my life that I've worn a tuxedo, the first being for my brother's wedding. I wore a suit at my first wedding reception, so a tux figures to be a welcome change.e

We've also secured a place to live. We'll be living in a basement apartment in the home of some members of my ward. It's a nice place, very roomy and cozyf with a washer and dryer and plenty of storage space. Our future landlords have been very good to us. They've been very flexible about holding the place for us, and the rent is great. We're going to start moving stuff in the weekend before, so that'll leave minimal relocating of stuff for the week of the wedding.

What we haven't done yet is invitations, which we can't really do until we have scheduled a time at the Temple. And we can't do that until we get that letter back from the First Presidency. So we're waiting patiently for that...or trying to.

That's it for now, I suppose. Everything's in flux right now. It's an exciting but nervous and occasionally frustrating time. But the future looks grand.

And the road goes on.


--
a Hey, she's a great gal, her questionable taste in men notwithstanding. Why wouldn't I be enthusiastic?

b Maybe that's just what I was supposed to think. What, me cynical?

c 'We' meaning 'Nancy and her mother and sisters'. I just don't have an eye for that sort of thing.

d I didn't much care for them either, so that's a good thing.

e I figure my role at the reception is like that of the guest of honor at a wake: Show up on time, dress nicely, and try not to make a lot of noise.

f ...even if the ceilings are a little low in a couple of places. I can live with that.

Saturday, March 04, 2006

Quick Laughs

Our QA Manager made these two comments today at work:

“Britney Spears went to New Orleans to help them celebrate Mardi Gras. Haven’t those poor people suffered enough?”

“Bode Miller didn’t get any medals, but he said he still feels like a winner. That’s because he didn’t ski the biathlon with Dick Cheney."

Nice.

Friday, March 03, 2006

Two For the Road

Part I: Friday's Feast
Friday's Feast, 3 March 2006.

Appetizer How many pillows and blankets do you sleep with?
Pillows: two, one of which I invariably lose during the night.
Blankets: two at present, only one during the summer.

Soup What are you currently "addicted" to?
Change. New job, new apartment, new living arrangements, and possibly a new time zone...everything in my life is changing right now. I'm normally resistant to change, but given the reasons for the changes (i.e., marriage and graduation), I'm willing to deal with it.

Salad If you could make a small change to your current routine or schedule that would make you just a little bit happier, what would it be?
I'd like to start getting to bed earlier and waking up earlier. Being engaged to a night owl makes that rather unlikely.

Main Course Which adjective do you find yourself using often?
Shiny! (It's a Firefly thing.)

Dessert Have you ever picked up a hitchhiker?
Only once, when I saw them spin their car around on the ice on I-80 in southwestern Wyoming.

--

Part II: Top Five on Friday
Top Five on Friday from The Music Memoirs:

Top 5 Songs about Death

» "My Immortal" by Evanescence

» "If You Sleep" by Tal Bachman

» "Child of Innocence" by Kansas

» "Fragile" by Sting

» "Suicide Blues" by Cross Canadian Ragweed

Wednesday, March 01, 2006

Wasn't Expecting That

From a conversation earlier this evening at the conveniece store next to where I work:

Me: Excuse me....
Clerk: Yes?
Me: I need some buns for the hot dogs.
Clerk: Hot dog buns, let me see...
[gets a bag of buns from the cabinet under the hot dog machine]
Clerk: ...here we are. Hot dog buns! After all, what's a hot dog without a bun?
Me: Just a big tube.
[moment of uncertain silence]
Clerk: Uh...yeah...a tube.....

I love it when I can make someone's day just a little more surreal.