Thursday, July 31, 2003
A really big day for Donald and Steven Sensing from One Hand Clapping.
from the Marine FAQ website:
Will my child be someone different when boot camp is over?
Answer: Don't worry. Your child will be the same person after boot camp, just a greatly enhanced version.
Donald got to administer the oath of enlistment to his son today. What a proud moment for both of them. Go watch the video of the ceremony.
I on the other hand am wading knee deep through the DOD medical processing for enlistment handbook (88 pages) in search of the appeals process for son Noah who has just last week been disqualified from further enlistment actions. We're going up the chain of command and I've already drafted the letter to my Senator...
Nate 1:14 PM - [Link] Say something...
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Centerville fire finds fuel
From the Standard Examiner that still requires you to register... use "wasted_electrons" and "blogspot" to read the whole story.
Pretty dramatic pictures today from the fires burning on the hillsides just a few miles from my home. And it aggravates me something terrible that this was caused by kids being stupid. Anyway, check it out.
The third major wildfire in the Top of Utah this month continued to blacken at least 215 acres in Ford Canyon on Wednesday as helicopters, air tankers and firefighters tried to contain the day-old blaze.
The fire began at 12:30 p.m. Tuesday after three teens were playing with smoke bombs near the base of the mountain on Firebreak Road, sparking the dry scrub oak and grass yellowing the mountain, officials said.
Officials had been glad the weather cooled from the triple-digit temperatures and canyon winds that accompanied other fires were lacking.
However, late-afternoon winds Wednesday brought the fire south, jumping the canyon to burn heavy timber. That expected move created mushroom clouds of smoke that could be seen from Weber County to Salt Lake County.
"It so sad. This fire is right in my back yard," said resident
Natalie Bailey, who went outside with her family to take pictures of the smoke as it filled the sky. "I hate to see all that black smoke in that air. I feel bad these kinds of things have to happen."
The fire is being compared to the Farmington fire, just two miles north earlier this month, with similar fuel and terrain conditions.
However, it is just more than 10 percent of the size of that 1,936-acre fire. Thus far, the Centerville fire has cost more than one-quarter of a million dollars. Officials expect by the time the fire is contained costs could equal expenses of the Farmington fire, which cost at least $1.5 million.
Nate 9:06 AM - [Link] Say something...
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Wednesday, July 30, 2003
A gentle reminder today.
(in)Famous Gun Nuts from Flashbunny.org
Nate 1:00 PM - [Link] Say something...
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German scholar says Quran was not originally in Arabic from Donald Sensing over at One Hand Clapping
A very interesting article about a book Challenging the Quran that claims that the Quran was not originally written in Arabic as all good Muslims take as fact. Rather, the author, using the pseudonym Christoph Luxenberg claims that the Quran has Hebrew and Aramaic origins.
Donald writes: "Its important to remember that the Quran does not occupy the same religious place in Islam as the Bible does for Christians. For Muslims, the Quran is much more analogous to what Christ is for Christians - the supreme and actual revelation of Allah.
Even so, one may ask, "What's the big deal?" The tenets of Christian faith have come under critical scrutiny - if not actual attack - for many decades now. The Jesus Seminar, for example, consists of about 70 members (only a handful are bona fide scholars, though) that claims to have refuted almost every Christian doctrine about Christ. Yet Christians haven't lit torches, grabbed pitchforks and marched off to lynch the heretics and blasphemers.
Its an interesting read and another indicator of why "they" don't like "us." Go read it.
Nate 11:51 AM - [Link] Say something...
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Mueller makes homer history
ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) Bill Mueller could not have imagined having a night that was unprecedented in major league history.
The switch-hitter became the first player to hit grand slams from both sides of the plate, connecting for three homers to lead the Boston Red Sox over the Texas Rangers 14-7 Tuesday night.
Mueller had a career-high nine RBI with the first three-homer game of his career. He has 13 homers this season, also a career best, and four career slams.
"I was just trying to have good at-bats like the guys in front of me," Mueller said. "I was just trying to drive some runs in. I was fortunate to get some balls up in the air and they carried out. I was just trying to hit line drives, but tonight they went out."
I am very impressed!
Nate 10:03 AM - [Link] Say something...
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Fire chases Fruit Heights residents from homes
More examples of dumbass running rampant with no consideration of personal responsibility, danger inflicted to property, homes or the lives of firefighters. Two fires yesterday, just miles apart, caused by teens playing with fire on the mountains during the driest summer in years. No appearance of commmon sense being applied here at all; just dumbass.
I think I'm beginning to favor the idea of public caning for behavior like this...
There's a couple buttons below the picture, clicking the left button will take you to the story.
Fire officials in Fruit Heights called for the evacuation of at least 20 homes Tuesday night as a field fire burned out of control east of Highway 89 near 200 North.
The blaze, thought to be human-caused, ignited around 9 p.m. Five or six juveniles were spotted jumping a fence and speeding from the fire scene in a white minivan, said Lt. Brad Wilcox of Davis County Sheriff's Department.
Also on Tuesday, a fire in Centerville was started in dry grass by three teens playing with smoke bombs, authorities said.
A firefighter was injured at that fire, but officials did not immediately release information about the injuries or the firefighter's condition.
That fire started about 12:30 p.m. It had covered about 80 acres, was moving slowly and no buildings were in immediate danger by Tuesday night. A second, nearby, spot fire had burned 10 to 15 acres as of late Tuesday.
A fire started July 10 burned more than 2,000 acres in Farmington Canyon. (By the homeless guy that wanted to start sleeping in the county jail, remember? Now he's looking at 15-20 years!)
Nate 7:08 AM - [Link] Say something...
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Tuesday, July 29, 2003
Well that's it for tonight. I've played with the colors and the comments and I can't figure out the statistics page and my original comments are showing up again too.
But it will all have to wait, I'm off to the airport!
Nate 6:42 PM - [Link] Say something...
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I just implemented the BlogStudio Pro upgrade. Now I've got to figure out how it works. Instructions are very sketchy...
Nate 2:56 PM - [Link] Say something...
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Comments are AWOL. Again. Time for a switch to a new comment provider, just as soon as I have a couple hours to tweak about.
Spouse is returning tonight. Got to finish getting the house tidied up. I often do it when she's away just to prove that its not so hard that even I can do it. But she's anxious to be home and she'll probably sleep a couple days to catch up from her stay with her sisters.
Nate 2:42 PM - [Link] Say something...
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Monday, July 28, 2003
Busy tonight finishing up some housecleaning in anticipation of the BSU's return and the arrival of Renee for her vacation. Rumor has it that BSU is flying home tomorrow but so far I've not been told when to appear at the baggage carousel to deliver her home. I suppose she'll call sometime.
And the itinerary for Renee's trip is getting fixed up nicely. There will be a day at Lagoon Amusement and Water Park, a Raptors baseball game, Willie Nelson in concert at the county fair, 3 days and 2 nights camping in the mountains, good food, margaritas just about non-stop and plenty of hours of just resting in the shade.
Wish you all could join us!
Nate 10:23 PM - [Link] Say something...
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One more thing right now. Carol, my dad's bride of 3 months is beginning her chemo treatments today. If all goes well she should be finished being injected with poisons before Christmas. Say a prayer for her if that's your part of your daily routine.
Nate 1:51 PM - [Link] Say something...
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Man I am so glad its Monday and I can get back to work and rest up. This last weekend was another fun-filled bunch of hours that seemed to run out before the fun and chores were caught up. For those of you keeping up, the BSU has NOT returned home or called to say she's coming home. But she hasn't called and demanded that her sewing machine be shipped to Oregon either.
I have received email rumors that she may be planning to return tomorrow but so far I've not been told when to present myself to the airport baggage pickup carousel for her (hopefully) joyous return home.
Saturday, buddy Brian and Noah and I headed out to go mountain biking. The easy kind of biking that involves riding up the mountain on a chairlift and then down the mountain on the bike. We like to do this a couple times each summer and its a great way for old slow fat guys like yours truly to have some fun without having a heart attack and wrecking everyone else's afternoon fun.
This trip we decided to go to Snowbird Resort. I had read that they were shuttling bikes on their tram this year and we had never been there before so we decided that was our destination. In the past we have been to Deer Valley and Park City Resort and we were hoping to be able to ride this year at Snow Basin this year since its much closer to home but old Earl Holding the owner killed that idea for this year. So off it was to Snowbird and adventure.
Brian needed to rent a bike 'cause he's too cheap to buy the parts his bike requires and I had read that there were rental bikes available. Little did we know that Snowbird really isn't into this mountain biking thing too much, they're really just doing it because some of the other resorts are doing it and they wanted to sell a few more rides on their fancy tram.
Their bike rental was in a closet. They had 5 bikes. Mostly broken, the rest poorly set up. The bike Brian first rented had no real brakes, the rear suspension was totally misadjusted and the tires were worn to nubs.
Oh, and there was NO singletrack trail to ride! Just one gravel and rock access road from the top to the bottom. Turns out that Snowbird is on BLM land not Forestry Service land and no trailmaking is allowed. This was a huge disappointment because singletrack that winds and weaves through the alpine meadows and aspen forests is the reason we like to go to the resorts. We made one run to the bottom; carefully. Not carefully enough for Brian though as he did get thrown down pretty hard and skinned himself up from shoulder to calf in the gravel.
So we took a break after getting back and Brian found some antiseptic creme and picked most of the rock out of his skin and pretty soon he wanted to do it again. After we thumped the so-called bike mechanic and insisted that he fix the brakes, which he did and then we re-did after getting back to the top for the second ride.
This time the tram operator turned us on to another way down that he promised would be much better, after we went uphill over that ridge over there... So off we went and it was much better even though the uphill portion was much bigger once we got closer... But it was a good ride down for us and the 3 young fellows that tagged along with us. We stopped and took pictures of a badger napping, fixed one of the bikes that was unscrewing itself, climbed on the boarded up silver mine access door and generally had a pleasant ride back down the mountain and the resort area.
Homeward bound after that but not before fish & chips at Neil's Halibut & Chips, voted best in Salt Lake City for a number of years. Very good food, funky decorating and great service, its a favorite whenever we get down that way. And we went to Riverton to visit the traveling Vietnam Veterans Memorial wall which was on display just for the weekend. I've not yet had the privilege of seeing the permanent memorial but seeing those 58,000 names engraved in stone is a stark reminder of the people in uniform that put their life in harm's way for our country's ideals. (I may have more on this subject later.)
And all that was just Saturday!
Sunday was much more mundane but just as tiring. The camper needed some parts installed, a new cover on the vent and a replacement LP gas sensor. Both the parts I bought Saturday on the way to mountain biking. The sensor required me to cut a bit of the plywood and a bit of wiring to get properly installed but no real cussing was involved.
Then I folded it up and headed inside for the dreaded housecleaning... The place was a wreck really with all the travel we've done this summer. We don't clean too hard anytime but lately the situation had become real bad. The amount of dust bunnies I swept out of the laundry room could have populated the entire Utah west desert! I scrubbed the bathroom. Hard. I vacuumed the computer closet and world headquarters of Wasted Electrons. I sprayed the spiders that threatened to carry me out of my closet that they were trying to claim for themselves. I vacuumed the family room and the hallway, including moving all the furniture and wiping down all the baseboards. I did laundry all the while including the dog's blankets and our bedding. I folded clothes last night finally during the 10:00 news.
I did NOT get the dusting completed not have I cleaned our bedroom. That's tonight. I'm tired already. But doing this while BSU is away is almost tradition, its my way of doing some of the heavy lifting and letting her know I care. And Renee is arriving Thursday so its good to have things as tidy as possible for company.
Now its time for me to get back to satisfying my government masters for a couple more hours!
Nate 1:47 PM - [Link] Say something...
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Bob Hope passes away at 100.
Thanks for the memories...
Nate 8:58 AM - [Link] Say something...
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'In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida' guitarist dead
LOS ANGELES, California (AP) -- Erik Braunn, the Iron Butterfly guitarist who played one of rock's most recognizable riffs in the 17-minute anthem "In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida," died of cardiac arrest Friday. He was 52.
Braunn, who was born in Pekin, Ill., and raised in Los Angeles, was a violin prodigy who began his musical career at age 4. He joined Iron Butterfly when he was 16 and toured with the heavy metal band from 1967 to 1969, when the group was enjoying its greatest success.
Braunn, Doug Ingle, Ron Bushy and Lee Dorman left their mark on musical history with the psychedelic "In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida," released in 1968. It went platinum and stayed on the national sales chart for two years; a three-minute version became a Top 40 radio hit.
Braunn occasionally reunited with the band for performances, and worked as a songwriter, musician and producer until his death.
During a 1988 reunion, he commented to the Times about his experience with superstardom decades earlier: "My first vacation I bought a car, a Jaguar, and parked it outside the hospital where I spent two weeks for ulcers and gastroenteritis."
Another rock legend has past to the everlasting jam session. Wish I still had my LP of this album but its long gone. Maybe EBay has one...
Nate 7:33 AM - [Link] Say something...
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Friday, July 25, 2003
Comments have gone AWOL. Again. I guess its time to switch to a new flavor of comment provider. I'll work it this weekend. And maybe I'll write a little something about my summer vacation(s) so far.
Nate 8:59 AM - [Link] Say something...
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Thursday, July 24, 2003
nekked+muslim+girls Southern teen seeks girlfriend...
I found this search string in my referrer logs this afternoon. Without a doubt some teenaged boy south of the Mason-Dixon line got logged into that there internet thingie today, maybe there at the back computer of the public county library, hiding from the heat of the day, trying to generate some heat of his own.
Knock that off BillyJoeBob or you'll get whupped by your Pap and given extra chores! And you'll get banned from the library where its cool.
Nate 4:11 PM - [Link] Say something...
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"Gobble Gobble" from J-Lo?
By ANTONELLA LAZZERI in Los Angeles
Film critics have branded J-Lo and Ben Afflecks new film a total disaster which is destined to bomb at the box office.
Gigli has had reviewers sniggering in the aisles at the laughable dialogue and ludicrous plot. In the film J-Lo plays a lesbian assassin who is seduced by hitman Affleck.
One critic said: "It has the feel of a straight to video film. There were a lot of rumours from the set that it was a terrible movie and it is."
...Another critic said: "Affleck is just totally miscast and J-Lo is just awful."
In one scene J-Lo, 33, tries to seduce Affleck, 30, by laying on a bed and telling him: "It's turkey time!"
When he asks: "What?", she replies: "Come on, gobble, gobble".
One reviewer said: "There was J-Lo with her legs wide open trying to look sexy and then she opens her mouth and spoils it! It was possibly the worst line ever said in a movie."
... even J-Lo diehards will be disappointed. In the only sex scene she keeps her robe on.
And gay rights groups are incensed that J-Lo's character starts off as a lesbian but goes straight thanks to Affleck.
Ok, I can believe the movie is bad. And the "gobble gobble" turkey time line is unbelievably tacky and terrible. But the thought of the invitation- from J-Lo is intriguing... or at the very least distracting!
I'd have to give it some serious thought.
Ok, that's a lie. I would be there in a minute, for the night!
Don't tell.
Nate 3:41 PM - [Link] Say something...
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Eden man faces fraud charges
Thr, July 24, 2003 By MARK GRAY Standard-Examiner staff
OGDEN -- An Eden man who once tried to buy Nordic Valley ski resort -- and operated it for a short time -- was charged Wednesday with 31 felony counts of fraud for allegedly bilking $2.51 million from investors and employees and using it for unauthorized purchases.
Court documents allege Gary Randall Whetton, 31, redirected $533,791 from a non-existent online gaming company, www.playitall.com, to third parties and for personal use, some of which went to Nordic Valley promotional items. Whetton was the CEO and president of Catalyst Advisors, a Salt Lake City-based company specializing in locating operating capital for businesses. He was supposed to use $487,000 from 11 investors to launch the gaming platform.
"He was basically stealing from one to compensate for another one," said Weber County Deputy Attorney Camille Neider.
Whetton, who goes by the first name of Randy, intentionally misrepresented he built software to run the online company, court documents said. He also claimed the technology on the site would allow clients from across the world to play simultaneously and convert text into the recipient"s native language. He would go on to tell investors he secured licenses from various owners of more than 2,200 interactive video games.
During sales pitches, Whetton claimed a million people visited the Web site on weekends, the court documents said.
It was later determined the software he claimed to have built was copied. One person who used the software described it as "junk that worked initially, but started running into problems," court records said.
During a two-year period, Whetton received $687,000 from investors for the platform.
Court records said Whetton used the money to purchase personal items such as a plasma television set and a 2002 Chevrolet Tahoe. He also divied out money to his wife"s doctor, a marketing firm for Nordic Valley, and his attorney, who was representing him in a real estate transaction involving the ski resort.
Of the 31 second-degree felonies, many are for unpaid wages and bills associated with the ski resort he operated for around three months. While collecting all proceeds during that time, Whetton failed to pay nearly $1 million to employees and bills, and failed to pay a contractor $613,818 for development work. (He did write several insufficient funds checks to employees.) Instead of paying for bills, Whetton used "stall tactics," according to the court documents written by county attorney"s investigator Shane Minor.
Bank accounts for Whetton show between December 2001 and January 2002 the average balance was negative-$398.82. Just a month prior, Whetton had written a fraudulent personal check for $4.5 million (emphasis mine) to buy the resort from Ski Associates. He wrote a personal check and it was accepted by the seller at face value without being cleared? Geez, I told you its a small town!
On Wednesday, Judge W. Brent West set a cash-only bail of $200,000 for the man who once claimed to have millions of dollars from Stream Technologies, another Internet company.
Here's another fine example of the brotherly love some common among the local populace here behind the Zion Curtain. The town of Eden is a tiny little place, a village really with just one pizza joint and a grocery store and a Post Office. Nordic Valley Ski Resort is a small, mom & pop, take the kids to play on the tubing hill kind of place. Nobody flies into Utah to go skiing at Nordic Valley but the locals frequent it because its close, cheap and offers night skiing.
So nice guy Wheaton here, he's a local! He lives in Eden! And he says he's going to buy Nordic Valley but instead rips off the sellers and all the staff and puts the resort into serious jeopardy.
So here's hoping that this dumbass not only finds a way to spend a lot of time in jail but also spends the rest of his life repaying those neighbors and investors that he defrauded.
I really dislike people like this!
Nate 8:35 AM - [Link] Say something...
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Wednesday, July 23, 2003
Well then, a little blogging housecleaning accomplished. As some of you know, the AT&T web and cable tv provider recently changed to Comcast. And although they promised everything would go along smoothly, they were only talking about those things that were done in acordance with their terms of service. That's why most of my buttons on the left side weren't loading, the address had been changed and nobody was home at the old address!
So tonight I think I have everything fixed. You'll note that my email address is different also. So fix your address book if you use it at all.
Apologies to all for such extended light blogging. Vacation stories are piling up waiting to be shared but work in the cubicle is keeping me busy, which is good. Then there's been yard work and a camper to clean, some minor "improvements" to make on it before the next trip and baseball games to listen to on the radio. (The Raptors won tonight BTW, 7-3.) There has also been a cougar sighted in the park just below my house about a half mile away that has everyone's attention. I need to talk to my next door neighbor Roger the Fish & Game guy to get the scoop on that story and get back to you.
Tomorrow I'm giving a briefing to 200 Air Force F16 mechanics and managers. That should be fun since Todd built the briefing charts then asked me to attend the conference in his place. It won't be the worst briefing I've ever done and its a fairly friendly crowd so maybe I won't get thrown out on my ear.
Anyway, its past my bedtime. And I still need to pick out clothes for tomorrow and shower and shave. So g'night!
Nate 11:42 PM - [Link] Say something...
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I'm having a terrible time getting Blogstudio working today. I made a couple changes and then tried to reverse them and now everything's tanked. Its been slow to load and I don't know why.
If you're reading this its not totally broken...
But I sure hope it gets better soon. I'd hate to have to move back to Blogger...
Nate 12:24 PM - [Link] Say something...
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Tuesday, July 22, 2003
Whew! I'm back from Oregon and a fine camping trip at the beach and good food and a not so good fishing trip and a 13 hour drive back yesterday. Its over 100 degrees this afternoon, the swamp cooler in the building is barely able to keep up and my email box is overflowing and I learned today that I have to brief Todd's briefing on Thursday...
So much to do. Lots of details later. Promise.
Nate 1:58 PM - [Link] Say something...
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Wednesday, July 16, 2003
Damm, Studabaker arrested before the Marines found him...
Missing girl safe, ex-Marine held from CNN.com
British police said Wednesday Shevaun Pennington was found on her way back to Britain after she had traveled to France with Toby Studabaker, who was arrested in Frankfurt, Germany.
His arrest in Frankfurt Wednesday -- made with the help of German authorities and the FBI -- came after images of child pornography were found on Studabaker's computer in the United States, a senior investigative source told CNN.
"It confirmed our worst fears," the source said. "We can prove he knew she was 12."
Its very good that the young girl is safe and headed back home to her parents. Its also a good thing this dumbass has been arrested so quickly due to the efforts of a large group of police officials in a plethora of different colored uniforms.
Now throw the dumbass pervert in jail.
Nate 8:10 AM - [Link] Say something...
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Tuesday, July 15, 2003
Vacation time will interupt blogging staring nearly immediately. Sorry.
Tomorrow starts another almost full week of vacation. We are leaving the 100+ degrees of Utah and heading for the cooler seashores of Oregon. (Did I write this already? Maybe.) Anyway, leaving tomorrow with the truck and camper. Spending the night in Baker Oregon where I am told is a museum that has a number of old photos of cowboys that bear my same surname and look disturbingly like my brothers and myself. But I don't think we'll be seeing the museum this trip.
BSU desires to be the first sister into the campground here at Ft Stevens State Park. We are camping in the "N" circle so if you're in the neighborhood, stop by and say hi. I'll buy you a beer.
Preparations tonight so I may not get back to blogging. We'll see. The truck needs cleaned badly. I can't stand dirty windows when I'm traveling and the inside of the glass right now is very dirty. Also there's a tool bag to prepare, clothes to stuff in a duffel, bike stuff to stash and the camp boxes need loaded up. The bikes can go on the rack too tonight I suppose. Cold groceries are going to be purchased when we get there so no real need for ice except to keep a couple beers cold for tomorrow night's motel stay.
Let's see, what else? Oh yeah. I want a volt meter and amp meter to add to the camper so I can keep track of the battery. I bought a new one last night, even bigger than the previous one to keep the lights and heater blower running when needed. But there is some electrical gremlin loose in the camper that continually draws electricity even when its all closed up. I need to capture that gremlin. And buy more fuses for the fuse panel...
And finally, there's no phone connection while camping so I will be internet-disconnected. Not a terrible thing really but I will be missing it I suspect.
TTFN
Nate 3:37 PM - [Link] Say something...
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More fires in Utah- Weber fire destroys structures From the Standard-Examiner that still requires you to register. So, try "wasted_electrons" and "blogspot" to see the entire story. Don't tell!
Firefighters in Northern Utah found themselves battling a second large blaze Monday, and equipment moved north from Davis County to help fight the new fire.
By 10 p.m., the Evergreen fire, just west of Causey Reservoir, had spread to cover an estimated 350 to 500 acres, destroyed six structures and forced the evacuation of Sourdough, Evergreen and Beaver Creek.
The fire started in Evergreen, a subdivision of scattered homes, and quickly spread north over a hill into the Sourdough area. Cause of the fire was uncertain Monday night, but several local residents told reporters they believed it had been started when a backhoe hit a rock and resulting sparks ignited the tinder-dry grass.
In a briefing for area residents late Monday, Kerry Jenkins, Weber County fire warden, said the fire was "man-made" but declined further comment.
This fire's not too far from home either, just up the road a few miles from a number of fine campsites we like to use and very near the site I went camping with the ROTC kids back in May. Sure hope they get it under control soon.
Nate 9:30 AM - [Link] Say something...
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Farmington Fire and Potential for Flooding from Lori Butters, Salt Lake Tribune
FARMINGTON -- Crews battling the 5-day-old Farmington Canyon fire might welcome a heavy rain. But such a storm could spark more trouble.
"There is a history of flooding on these hillsides that was spawned by overgrazing at the turn of the century," said Paul Flood, soil conservationist for the U.S. Forest Service. "Fires typically don't cause that kind of damage, but it is something we will look at."
The extent of the fire -- allegedly started last Thursday by a transient -- won't be known for a few more days. The state Department of Geology and the Forest Service are convening a task force to examine rehabilitation of the nearly 2,000 charred hillside acres.
By Monday evening, crews had the blaze 50 percent contained, though they expected hot spots to burn for "some time," according to Lynn Barclay of the Rocky Mountain Incident Management Team.
I haven't mentioned this before just because I'm lazy I suppose but there has been a significant fire burning in our valley since last week. The smoke has filled up the valley for a couple days then the wind switched and sent the fire and the smoke up, over the top of the mountain improving visibility and breathing considerably. You can see this fire easily from the interstate and there is a simple rest stop that has become very popular for firewatching and taking pictures. Its not quite visible from my house but certainly from work. So far damage to homes has been avoided but the troubles might not be over yet.
The transient that started the fire claimed he did it "just to get himself into jail" so he would eat regular and have a place to sleep. Which tells me that jail is just too easy and pleasant a place if he's so eager to get in. Fifteen years is the time he could do if he received the maximum punishment, I wonder if that's how much time he was hoping for...
You know its coming...
Dumbass!
Nate 9:20 AM - [Link] Say something...
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Ogden Raptors Baseball!
Since I know that many of you might not have foound the link since the Raptors web page moved recently, I thought it only fair to ensure that you had the opportunity to share America's pastime with me by listening to Raptors baseball over the 'net.
You should know that the Raptors are 3 in a row for the 2nd time this year and are 11-14 for the season. You should also be aware that "Who's on first?" has a whole new meaning this year with the addition of this guy to the roster... (He's really a shortstop but he's batting .231 so he gets to first often enough!
Nate 8:57 AM - [Link] Say something...
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Monday, July 14, 2003
Ex-U.S. Marine flees with girl, 12 from CNN.com
Oh man do I smell an ass-whuppin coming on... If a real Marine finds this guy before the police do. Marines don't take kindly to anyone sullying their name and reputation, especially someone that once wore the uniform. I sure hope he gets arrested before he gets wailed upon- no, actually I hope he gets beaten badly, then arrested and put in jail as a child molester for a long number of years.
This dumbass could be living a very long miserable life after he gets caught. Serves him right!
Nate 1:20 PM - [Link] Say something...
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Last year was the safest ever for U.S. airlines USATODAY.com
For my friend Renee, who is traveling by aircraft to visit us in just a couple weeks and is a teency bit nervous about flying...
Last year was the safest ever for the nation's major airlines, with no deaths and only nine serious injuries due to accidents on U.S. commercial flights.
It will be ok- really!
Nate 8:19 AM - [Link] Say something...
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Woman's son stabbed-starts anti-gun group from Publicola which you really should be reading daily...
If your child is murdered by a knife wielding criminal the logical thing to do is to start an anti-gun group.
But I must confess I do find her deductive reasoning skillls somewhat lacking. How did that thought process work? "Since my son was killed with a knife I must do everything I can to stop people from owning guns." Or perhaps, "A knife is made of steel. A gun is made of steel. A knife killed my son, but since it was made of steel then maybe it was just a sharp pistol. Therefore if I eliminate guns which are made of steel then no one will be stabbed with a sharp pistol" Or maybe, "Since knives & guns are both made of steel then if I eliminate guns knives will disappear as well since they're made from the same material"
Personally I would have thought, "Since my unarmed son was stabbed with a knife then obviously he wouldn't have been stabbed if he had a gun. So therefore I will encourage people to learn how to use & carry guns so they won't be stabbed to death by criminals the way my son was." But that's just me.
Yeah, I don't understand her reasoning either.
Nate 7:40 AM - [Link] Say something...
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Sunday, July 13, 2003
I just noticed that my dang comments are missing- again! Not that they get overused or anything but I wish they would always be available...
Nate 7:20 PM - [Link] Say something...
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Well, its back. Blogstudio my gracious host was completely off the air earlier this afternoon. Wasted Electrons was not available. And my apologies for anyone that stopped by during the downtime. Anyway, its working now.
The first Wasted Electrons is going bye-bye. Yesterday I finished moving the archives so I think its time to free up those electrons for someone elses use. Hang on a minute...
OK, I did it. Deleted the first wasted Electrons blog from Blogger. Blogstudio- don't make me sorry I joined your team! I guess if this blog ever outgrows Blogstudio and feels the need to move up to bigger and better things that the next step might be Moveable Type or something similar. But not for now.
Spent a couple hours over at my Blog son Brian's place yesterday helping him get Mental Revolutions shined and polished up. Basically I just showed him where to go to copy and paste things and how to get links working both in his posts and permanently in his template. And he's gone off to set up his own personal web page through Comcast so that he can post pictures of all the things that he's interested in.
I also showed Brian just enough about HTML, (which is all I know too BTW) for him to start having fun playing with his blog's appearance. He was changing colors like crazy last night for a little while and finally got back to the default style before quitting. I suspect that appearance changes might be a regular thing over there at ME for a while, so stop by and check it out then give Brian some feedback.
Today has been preparation for the upcoming Oregon camping trip with BSU's sisters. Camper had a busted tire stem that required a trip to Sears for replacement, (thanks for the quick service!) and the water tank filled and the battery charged. Again. I'm pretty certain the battery is failed and needs to be replaced as it has not held a charge well since the first trip this year. Dang it anyhow as those battery's aren't cheap and don't seem to live very long.
So I still haven't written anything wonderful about my vacation in Michigan. Sorry. I have been thinking about it and there's a plethora of pictures to sort through to add to my site for posting but I just haven't written it yet. But I guess I really should do it before leaving on the next trip, huh?
Renee is coming for a week's vacation too at the end of July and going into August so that should entail more camping, a county fair, Willie Nelson in concert and lots of other fun and fanciful adventures. So kee coming back, there's bound to be more fun stuff here!
Nate 7:12 PM - [Link] Say something...
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Thursday, July 10, 2003
Lance Armstrong's latest gear assault on the Tour de France by Mark Riedy
Lance gets the coolest gear... and all my hopes that this year is #5.
But I've never understood this:
SHOES: Armstrong spends perhaps 1,500 hours a year in his cycling shoes, so they've got to fit perfectly. This January he took delivery of two pairs of size-9.5 hand-made custom Nike shoes. Synthetic kangaroo-leather uppers, ultrastiff soles made from seven layers of carbon fiber, and a Pebax resin heel/midfoot cage keep the weight to about 10 ounces per pair. The shoes will retail next year for about $250.
Where does Nike get synthetic kangaroos? And if if the material is synthetic, how can it be called leather? Couldn't it be possible to come up with another word to describe material with leather-like qualities that didn't originate on the back or side of an animal?
Nate 10:59 AM - [Link] Say something...
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Wednesday, July 09, 2003
CNN.com - A car stereo that can kill you? Cool - Jul. 2, 2003
Troy Irving's 18-year-old Dodge Caravan has a heck of a sound system: 72 amplifiers -- you got it, 72 -- and 36 big 16-volt batteries to put out the 130,000 watts of power needed to rumble his nine 15-inch subwoofers.
Not really. At a curb weight of about 10,000 pounds, the Caravan is basically undrivable. There is virtually no room for a driver, and even less for a passenger.
"We need more batteries, but that's all the room we have," Irving gripes. But he can at least sit in his driveway and listen to music, yes? Actually, no. Irving's audio system can't play music. It's designed to play a single frequency -- 74 Hz -- very loud. Irving, you see, is a dB drag racer.
Valenti admits he's often asked why he pursues this hugely pointless hobby. "Yeah, it's weird. But there are people who have tens of thousands of dollars invested in stamp collections, for God's sake. That to me is weird."
As Troy Irving's partner, Jason Bradley, explains, "You start out with a nice stereo in your everyday car, and it grows and grows and eventually gets out of control. The sad thing is, I don't even have a stereo in my daily driver anymore," he says, laughing. "Every dime I have goes into this equipment."
Ya know, there truly is no end to the dumbass that some people can display. What a complete waste of energy.
As many of you know, I'm plenty opinionated and one of the disruptions to my usual pleasant demeanor is the rude obnoxious kid in the smoking, rusting, rattling Civic with a trunk full of amplifiers trying to impress me at the stoplight.
My personal philosophy is that if my stereo in my truck isn't disturbing you in your vehicle then you should show me the same courtesy.
I also have a couple of proposed solutions to the noisy boom box cars disturbing our urban tranquility. One could be implemented immediately, the second requires some technology development. What I want is a handheld, directional electromagnetic pulse device that can ride next to me on the seat of my truck. Stereo in the car next to you too loud? Just point and pull the trigger of the EMP device and all the electrons in the car get scrambled. Immediately. Right there in traffic. The smoke gets let out of the amplifier and every other device more advanced than a lightbulb and the noise stops.
But I've been told the technology I seek would require a truck bed's worth of batteries to be feasible and the directional requirement needs development too. In the mean time I have another suggestion that requires little more than the legislation to implement it.
I say that if people really want loud music in their cars, we let them listen to it loud. Get a couple tickets for obnoxious music, pay a fine. Third time -get handcuffed to the steering wheel of your own car, parked in the middle of a big field. Then the music gets cranked as loud as it will go and and the audio enthusiast can enjoy it until their eardrums bleed.
I don't think it would take too many of those punishments to quiet the other enthusiasts down...
Nate 12:19 PM - [Link] Say something...
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Tuesday, July 08, 2003
Last day of vacation. Bummer. Traveling today, back to Saginaw airport then back to Utah late tonight. But first I have to go with my grandmother to assist in picking out her new bike. That's right, Grandma Manning is 90 in a few weeks and she wants a new bike. A three-wheeler. Similar to the three-wheeler in the basement but with balloon tires. Her current bike has skinny high pressure tires and only 3 speeds.
So Grandma wants a new bike. The reunion auction gathered enough money to buy it for her and this morning we are going into town to comparison shop a couple. Its a shame I don't live closer because I could make the desired changes to her current bike in just a couple days time if I was at home. But the local (supposed) bike mechanics can't seem to be bothered and would prefer to sell an entire new bike rather than lace up some new rims and install a new hub.
My blood pressure which had settled right into complete bliss and relaxation mode has bumped itself right up to normal again with a simple trip over to Little Green Footballs. I guess its nice to know the world has continued to swirl around while I've been picnicing and canoing blissfully unaware.
And Terry is back at work and blogging his vacation to the shore over at Possumblog. Reading that got me back into vacation mode for the final few hours. And I'm mailing a couple post cards today too.
Mom just cruised through the room and said I better be kind in what I write about her- I am using her computer after all... And she know the address here and threatened to stop by and check what I write!
So, it packing and traveling and turning in the rental car and the last of the homemade bread and strawberry jam today. Its been wonderful!
Nate 5:53 AM - [Link] Say something...
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Monday, July 07, 2003
Grandma's house is quiet. First time really since we arrived last week. All the rest of the family left this morning, brother Tim about 3 AM for the drive to Detroit's airport, the rest left about 7 by car and 2 vans all going different directions. Mom is off preparing food for a funeral reception at her church this morning and Grandma has finished watching the news and is cleaning up in her kitchen.
What a weekend it has been! Great fun seeing all my cousins again, meeting or being reintroduced to their spouses and their children and in several cases grandchildren too. Wow. There was just over 100 people at the house for the reunion! The weather gods blessed us with fine weather though it has been close to hot here but no thundershowers like the 2 afternoons prior.
I'm going to just post this for now and will try to get back with details a little later on. I put 208 pictures from 3 cameras onto CDs yesterday for family members and it will take a little sorting to find the best to share with you. And there's logistical issues today- I'm out of clean socks...
More later. Go read about Brian's weekend over at Mental Revolutions, he's been busy! But I've got to show him how to link to things when I get home. And I'll be adding him to my blogroll shortly but the dialup connection here takes so very long...
Nate 7:21 AM - [Link] Say something...
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Friday, July 04, 2003
Hey! I'm a blogfather! How about that! My buddy Brian has started his own blog and its on Blogspot! (I may have to talk to him about that when I get home...) Anyway, go say hi to Brian at Mental Revolutions.
I'll yell at him about Blogger when I get home from Michigan but right now its almost time to go to the Alpena 4th of July parade. And Mom's planning lunch for 34 folks afterwards!
Nate 8:19 AM - [Link] Say something...
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Thursday, July 03, 2003
Coming to you my faithful readers from a remote site in Michigan, the Wasted Electrons staff is on vacation. Finally. Yesterday was air travel and it was remarkable only by the pleasantness of the trip. I haven't traveled with BSU by air in a number of years and it was nice be be on an adventure with her. Son was also on his best behavior and even got to sit one leg of the journey with 2 attractive teenaged girls. So we flew from Salt Lake City into Saginaw Michigan. The luggage arrived with us and the rental car was cleaned and waiting. (Its a Sebring BTW and seems to be a decent car.)
But its a 3 hour trip from the airport to Alpena and it was late to be starting to get all the way there so we drove just as far as Standish where we found sustenance and then into Tawas City for a motel for the night. That's where I am now, drinking my first coffee on the front deck of the North Star Motel. Cabins, phones, commercial rates. Probably been in business here for 50 years. Tiny little room but clean and well maintained and I only wanted a shower and sleep so I'm not complaining. Its American self-sufficiency and independence at its finest really, this little motel. No big multi-national corporation running this place, just a small town couple putting a nice place for people to stay out by the road and taking pride in providing a clean place to stay on our vacation. There's yellow bows on the porch rail and star spangled ones too and the porch is newish and very nicely made.
Oh, and "this bear, resplendent in his Independence Day finery, on guard at the pool. I think if I walk a block I can see Lake Huron but from my current perch I can see the bear and across the street a red and white light house in the parking lot of the Tawas Motel. There's motorcycles on the highway out there, birds singing and a squirrel sneaking up behind me looking for handouts.
What a really nice day so far and I'm not even home yet... Time to roust the rest of the clan from their slumber so we can be on our way. Family, homemade bread and strawberry jam await!
Nate 3:24 PM - [Link] Say something...
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