I Must Have a Haircut!

Today! Right now, as a matter of fact! I am way overdue for professional attention to my hairs. So don't tell but I'm sneaking over to the haircutting place a little early today...

Let's Play "Meet the Visitor" Again

I had lousy luck trying to get my semi-regular visitor from Knob Noster to come out in the open last week, in fact, it seems I scared that person away. So, being the slow-learning type person that I am, I thought it might be worth trying again with this visitor from Woodbridge, VA.

So how about Mr or Ms Woodbridge? What brings you around to Wasted Electrons? What keeps you coming back? What would you like more of from my humble blog? Are you a blogger too?

Don't be shy- share a little.

The Carpet Estimate Will Be Ready Tonight-

Expect to hear a loud howling sound coming from my wallet. As I mentioned before, we picked out a carpet style from Home Depot. Yesterday the measuring guy came to the house and did his part. The estimator person, who receives the measurements by fax from the measuring guy is supposed to call with the cost this afternoon. To be eligible for the 10% discount, I've got to order the carpet by Thursday.

I'm trying to get this carpet installed without increasing my debt load, which means I'll be writing a check for the entire job and paying for it with my VA payment that is supposed to be paying for next term's tuition. Which is all good and I'll be happy to have the work done and no new debt involved.

As for wallets, the BSU's is missing and she is getting frantic about it. She doesn't use it everyday so sometimes it sits for days at a time. But now she wants it and can't find it. She's looked in all the usual suspect places, I've searched the truck, to no avail. Last night, just about bed time, son Noah reminded us of Dog Sandy's predilection for stealing almost anything and hauling it through the doggie door and into the back yard... Hmm. That dog is a thieving little crook.

I did go out in the dark and had a look around but the effort was pretty futile. Now its up to the BSU to go out there in today's (barely) light and look on her own. Since there's a couple inches of snow on the ground, I suggested that she will need to drag a leaf rake around to see if she can unearth her wallet.

Busy today, so this may be all my posting. We'll see.

Remarkable!

The men in the building where I work are trainable! I've generally avoided blogging about the bathroom habits of the men in this building because they are just too tacky.

But today, I claim success! Here's the deal. There are 3 stalls in our men's room and one of them is oversized for handicap access. It seems to be the favorite of the newspaper readers. And generally, once each of the newspaper readers is done with their paper, they leave it on the floor of the stall. Pretty soon it looks like we are house-training a litter of puppies in our bathroom. Last week, I got the idea, and then located an excess trashcan and I put it in the stall. I seeded the new can with last week's papers and left it.

Today, the can is full of newspapers and there are no papers on the floor! Woo Hoo! Simply amazing. It will be interesting to see how long the trash can lasts before being relocated and the puppy training look returns to our stalls.

From My Referral Logs, An Intriguing Visitor

Some of you know that My Friend Renee and I are estranged and have been for quite some time. That still hurts me quite a bit but there doesn't seem to be any resolving of the circumstances. That's why I was a little interested in this visitor to WE a couple days ago.

I know Shreveport's a big town and I know that RoadRunner has more than one internet customer- but I guess I'm hoping that this visit was from MFR, even though it was a visit to an old, archived page, and that maybe, if it was MFR, she'll come back for another visit soon.

New Rules to Live by-

From Mostly Cajun, some rules to take to heart. For my brother Tim, here's my favorite:

New Rule: There’s no such thing as flavored water. There’s a whole aisle of this crap at the supermarket, water, but without that watery taste. Sorry, but flavored water is called a soft drink. You want flavored water? Pour some scotch over ice and let it melt. That’s your flavored water.

There's more and they are all good, so check them out.

I'd Like to meet the guy-

that can decorate his house with Christmas lights like this! Make sure you have your sound turned up.

Unbelievable.

As for my house, everything is up except the nativity scene. that will be next weekend.

Thanksgiving and Pie

And shooting.

It has been a wonderful holiday so far. Turkey Day was a glorious winter day, dry and cold and bright. I cleaned house and dishes while the beautiful BSU made a terrific, traditional Thanksgiving Feast. There was all the usual fixings, a huge turkey, (I'll be eating leftovers for a few days!) potatoes and stuffing and gravy and green bean casserole. Deviled eggs in abundance and fruit salad and breadrolls, everything one can imagine, with the exception of Mel's cinammon jello. I have to find a cinammon red hot candy source!

Anyway, there was pie! Pecan pie and pumpkin pie, fresh from the oven and filling the house with wonderful smells. And filling my tummy every time I get a chance!

Astin brought his parents for a visit and we had a wonderful time, though he had an upset tummy and upchucked on to his new high chair that I bought just for the occasion. Boy and chair are fine and so are mom & dad. She's in training at her job for a new department that sounded like a promotion, though she didn't say so and he's found a call center job for a cable company, helping folks get their cable internet connections working. Now I just need to do some picture posting!

Friday, since the weather guessers were calling for it to be dry, son Noah, his friend Donovan and I headed out to the desert for some shooting. We started out by 4-wheeling in the truck for an hour because we didn't find the correct turnoff. we even found one steep, loose rocky trail that we could not get over and had to back down until there was room to turn around. When we finally found the place we wanted to be, we hunted jackrabbits for a bit, (they all survived!) and then just did some casual plinking until it was time to head home.

And today, as promised by the weather guessers, it is snowing in our yard and all the yards around us! This is the first stor of the season to bring snow to the valley, and it is overdue! maybe skiing season will get started soon.

Now, I'm getting some breakfast and then I must write a paper for school! And there's a gunshow I may sneak out to later...

Just about time to unplug the mini lava light

That's the USB powered one on top of my monitor here on the job. Meaning that it is just about time to go home for the weekend. There is still some cleaning to do before Grandbaby Astin brings his mom and dad up for a visit tomorrow and certainly a run to the grocery store for those things we didn't get last Sunday.

The carpet decision has been made and the professional measuring person should be coming to do their part early next week. The Home Depot got our business with their 10% sale and a carpet design called "Crochet." I couldn't find a picture link, so you'll just have to guess what it looks like. Due to the timeline of getting it measured and estimated, the carpet ordered, then delivered, and then getting on the installer's schedule, we will be cutting it very close if we want the new carpet on the floor before Christmas. We'll see.

This weekend promises lots of schoolwork, perhaps a trip to the gunshow and possibly a trip to the desert for some shooting. There's no skiing planned as there just isn't any snow! And no snow in the 7 day forecast either...

And I have to buy a baby high chair today for Astin's visit tomorrow!

Definitely NSFW, but you gotta see this!

Follow the link from Dave Barry's blog to see a real flaming ass.

No, really. Go see it. Laugh at the poor dumb bastard!

1100cc Shifter Kart- This would be a ride!

This will be a long download if you're on dialup connections. But its worth it! It looks to me like you could smoke the tires right down to the air in just one run if you wanted to!

Click to see Video

That's Gonna Leave a Mark!

Check this drag racer's surprise!

Click to see Video

This news is going to give my Dad heartburn!

Cingular wireless service is disappearing, rolling up under the at&t banner. Which is a 180 degree reversal of what happened in 2004 and caused Dad a bundle of grief when he needed to upgrade his phone and wanted a better contract price too. The folks at the Cingular counter swore to him that his service was completely separate from AT&T, even though the monthly bill said AT&T, not Cingular. And no, he could not have the improved monthly rate that one of the two was offering, compared to what he had at the time. Now they are reversing course and merging Cingular into at&t, removing the Cingular brand from our conciousness and advertising medias.

I for one will be glad of that. I'm still using Trac-Phone prepaid wireless but every time I think about going to a contract, I can't figure out any benefit to any of the 3 big brands. So now that the playing field is being shortened by merging two players it will be easier when I finally decide to commit.

Anyway, Dad, I hope your phone keeps working!

More Referral Log Updates

I'm still waiting for another contact from "Jake the Dog" who has confessed to being my visitor from Knob Noster, Missouri. I've figured out on my own that Knob Noster is the home of Whiteman Air Force Base. Jake mentioned the initals LSET, which I'm pretty certain stands for Logistics Standardization Evaluation Team, so Jake probably has some connection with the 509 Logistics Readiness Squadron. If Jake is an LSET team member, then he's an inspector and evaluator, ensuring that the Log Readiness Squadron remains in full readiness.

But he's not left any further contact info or contacted me yet, so except for what I've surmised, he remains a mystery. So, I'll have to identify another stalker visitor to coax out into the bright lights. I'll be looking for a good candidate.

My weekend?

Well, what it was, was busy. Let me see if I can make a list…

Friday-
-Went to see Walk the Line with BSU after work, as previously posted.
-Watched my new Jeremiah Johnson DVD before bedtime. It followed me home from Wal-Mart where I went searching unsuccessfully for the Madagascar DVD. JJ is one of my favorite all time movies, so finding a $10 DVD version was a celebration.
-Discovered that the battery clock assembly purchased earlier in the day had too short a shaft for my Bomb Dump, Grammar Grinch clock. (I should get a picture of this clock, I'm pretty proud of it.)

Saturday-
-A little schoolwork- very little.
-Took the BSU out for breakfast at Village Inn and then carpet shopping. Its gonna be 1800 bucks, minimum!
-Returned home, dropped off spouse, took boy and went to Wal-Mart. Did my part for National Ammo Day as previously posted.
-Son Noah and I installed the first 2 of the 4 blue light ropes (I know the picture on the link shows red lights, mine are blue.) I bought on Friday over the front porch and carport. Looks good.
-Tinkered with the scooter.
-Some target shooting with the air rifle from inside the shop.

Sunday-
-Laundry- wash, dried, folded and put mine away.
-Put up plastic storm material on downstairs bathroom window and two large picture windows upstairs. This job is done except for boy's room and he is supposed to do those by his own self.
-Washed the dishes.
-Scrubbed shower stall and washed shower curtain.
-Installed two more rope light sets on the front of roof edge, again with Noah's help. These blue ropes are going to be pretty and much easier to install. Maybe I need more strings...
-Grocery shopping at the commissary with the spouse. Turkey is 24 pounds this year, I have no idea why.
-KFC for dinner even though there is $175 worth of groceries in the back seat. Again, I have no idea why...
-Tinkered with the scooter some more. My relay wiring is working backwards, that is, not working… Hmm.
-Missed by one hour seeing the beginning of Poseidon Adventure so skipped that for whatever else was on. I also did NOT know that this was a new version until I looked it up for a link. I expected it to be the 1972 original but according to this review I didn't miss much. And it was 3 hours! I never would have sat through all that!
-Rehung shower curtain.
-Installed clock motor. Reglued plastic numbers and star to metal faceplate. Spent 15 minutes getting spray adhesive off fingers.
-Practiced with my dulcimer for an hour before bedtime. "Are You Sleeping" is recognizable. "Amazing Grace" not so much. "Silent Night" has high notes that are tricky because I loose my place on the frets but its recognizable too. I cannot figure out how to use a noter properly, whether its supposed to be lifted or slid. Trying to follow the instructions for making chords is too advanced for me yet also. Even the BSU says my efforts are beginning to sound like music! That's a mighty big compliment from her.

Still need to find a DVD of Madagascar...

Deuce 4 Celebrates

Michael Yon reports. You should read all about it and celebrate in their success and pause to consider those soldiers lost and unable to attend the ball.

Thank you, Deuce 4.

Walk the Line- A Movie Review

If you liked the movie Ray starring Jamie Fox as Ray Charles, you cannot miss Walk the Line. The BSU and I went to the early show on Friday.

This is a good movie. Its sometimes uncomfortable watching the young upcoming star Johnny Cash trying to run away from his demons in a desperate spiral of drugs and booze, but its a touching film none the less. It is a film of redemption and deep love between two people that eventually were married for 35 years after the drugs and booze were conquered. Its a story of a brash, driven Johnny Cash and an equally strong, determined June Carter who refuses to let the man destroy himself.

Joaquin Phoenix and Reese Witherspoon play the 2 main characters and they are fabulous! They do all their own singing and a dang fine job of it too. They are completely believable playing their parts and its easy to see the characters through their acting. They both deserve awards for their parts.

Its a excellent movie and I really recommend it!

Its National Ammo Day!

UPDATE: I did my part, 200 rounds, as planned. One box each for the Kel-Tec P-11 and the Ruger P345. I would have bought more from Wal-Mart except that I am planning on a trip to the Evil Loophole Gun Show in town next weekend. And the carpet shopping went well too, BTW. I think we have narrowed down the selection possibilities to just 3 or 4 choices.

So get out there and buy a 100 rounds for whatever you shoot. Just because you can as an American. For those of you in Washington DC and the Republic of Chicago, this does not apply. Sorry.

I've not had time to post much about today's festivities but if you go over to the Gun Guy's link you can find out all about it. There is a special, nationwide "group" buy taking place at Wal-Mart at 4:30 eastern, 2:30 mountain for me. Everyone that can is being invited to buy a box or two from W-M, just to spike their sales reports and make a statement about how many armed citizens there are in this country.

I'm buying 2 value boxes today, One in 9mm, one for the Ruger in 45ACP.


I'm also out with the BSU carpet shopping today...

No Response Yet on My Referral Log Game

My Knob Knoster visitor was back last night but I haven't received any response from them. Maybe I'll pick another visitor to prod into responding tonight.

Want to see a really cool tool?

Check out this monster lathe! Its been built using 60 year old equipment and a "Monster Garage" mentality. But it works and its pretty neat.

I found the link at Synthstuff. Dave's got a great blog and he is obviously a tool and gearhead that I wwould love to meet. I'm adding him to my list so we can all check him out regularly.

What? The Thursday Three was Yesterday?

How the heck did I miss that? I was busy, that's how it got past me! Anyway, it was an interesting bunch of questions that popped up over at Possumblog yesterday and I know I'll hear from Dad if I don't do my part. So here's the questions and my answers.

1) If you had an unlimited amount of money, what sort of house would you like to have?

If money isn't a restriction to my house choice, I'd like a sprawling, ranch style house, on a small ridge and a walk out basement on the back. The basement would open onto a large deck that overlooks my private pond. The pond needs to be 2 or 3 acres with a grass approach from the house, a wild area on the back and a fishing dock and maybe a boathouse. There must be a 4 car garage attached to the house but not visible on the front of the house. Separate from the house I must have a large, year-round workshop/garage for my projects. My workshop will also have a shooting range out the back with security and lighting for shooting after dark. It might even work well to have the actual shooting range underground to make it quiet and year round capable.

2) If you decided to chunk it and go the full Thoreau route, what sort of hovel would you like to have?

A wheeled hovel if you please and well heeled, in other words, a motorhome. If I'm to give up my space and my places to work, shoot, fish and tinker, that's punishment enough. If I'm going to live a life of few possessions, then I think I'd at least like to be portable.

3) What is the one thing you’d most like to change about the house or apartment you live in right now?

Our house now is small and that's what we wanted when we bought it 6 years ago. I do sometimes wish it had more storage space. But there are a couple things I would like to change and the one thing I most would like to change would be to add a detached garage. I have room for a three car garage, with two cars side by side and one space in front of the other two. It would use up the area that formerly was a veggie garden but I gladly would make the swap. I would also like to add an elevated sunroom out the back side of our house connecting the two rooms on the south side and making a screened patio and hot tub room beneath it where our patio is currently exposed.

Someday!

More Referrer Log Fun

I wonder if my regular visitor from Bossier City, LA, who comes to see me via Possumblog, knows that I was a Bossier City resident for nearly 7 years.

Its true. From 1989 until 1996 when I left for Korea, Bossier was home. I miss Griff's Hamburgers and drive-up frozen margarita shacks and the Mud Bug Madness Festival. I miss bass fishing and I miss my friend Renee, who still is not talking to me.

Anyway, my Bossier City visitor, how about saying hey and leaving me a note in the comments!

How Terry Gets to Work on Time-

Our good buddy Terry over at Possumblog often mentions just how much it grieves him to be late. And with a multitude of offspring and a spouse that all need corraled and shuttled from time to time, being at a location at the specified time becomes a major challenge for our prehensile-tailed dad.

Apparently to make up for familial delays, he speeds... Check out the video link that was posted over at Jalopnik today.

Nice form Terry!

Which Peanuts character am I?

You are Rerun!


Which Peanuts Character are You?
brought to you by Quizilla

Fun With Referral Logs- or, Let's Out the Skulkers!

Ok, I said I had a plan earlier today, and here it is- I want to know who is frequenting Wasted Electrons, and why. Starting with this person from Knob Noster, Missouri! I know that this person visits me regularly because I see the same info each night when I bother to look at the locations tab of SiteMeter.

So, my Knob Noster visitor, who are you? what do you find of interest at my humble blog? What would you like to see more often? What other blogs do read? Do you have your own blog? Would you care to unskulk and say hello?

I would really like to hear from you, either in the comments or by email and there you can say what you would like or how much or how little you would like to share with the group. I'm curious, really and would like to hear your thoughts about WE, so say hi, won't you?

I hope I will get some feedback from this person in the next day or so and if I do, with permission, I'll share what I find out. If you are a regular visitor to WE but not from Nob Noster, don't feel left out. Just uncloak the spacecraft and say hi in the comments and tell me what's on your mind that you are trying to erase by hiding out in my little corner of the blogosphere.

I Have a New Idea for Referral Log Fun!

I came up with an idea today that as far as I know is unique in the blogging world. It has to do with the referral logs that are part of every blogger's reason to blog- the site meter. I'm not going to uncover my idea right now because I can't find exactly what I'm looking for in my referrals. Perhaps tonight the item I am looking for will be available, so its a secret until I find it.

I think its going to be fun.

In the mean time, routing around in my referrer logs today, I discovered that I had a visitor from Novgorod, Russia and this person took the time to find a picture of a Halloween snowstorm from two years ago.

Visitors from Russia to my litle part of the blogosphere; how cool is that?

Fun with children-

As most of you already know, son Noah is about to graduate on December 1 from the Clearfield Job Corp after training for 20 months as an automotive technician. The Job Corp has an active and apparently capable job locater program for its graduates and so the boy has been out for a couple job applications already and is expecting more in the next few weeks from in and around the Ogden and Salt Lake City area. Except that now he thinks that maybe working every day changing ball joints and brake pads and timing belts might just not be that much fun...

Last night at dinner he announced that he would like to go to Fiji and find work! How he decided on Fiji, I have no idea. I don't think even he knows. But he thinks it might be an adventure and that surely there must be some place for him to find mechanical work and that he would be willing to trade snowboarding in Utah for surfing in Fiji.

So, we talked about it. We looked at the link from the previous paragraph. We discussed what kind of work he might find. We discussed how far away it would be to come and visit our grandbabies should that circumstance occur while he's living there. We looked at the Request For a Permit to Reside in Fiji.

Since it appears that he needs a job promised before applying to stay there more than 4 months, he thinks he might have to go visit to check out the possibilities of long term work. In spite of the oddity of his short notice intent, he could do worse than living on a tropical island and making his own way on the edge of the world. I suppose there is plenty of time to settle down to a normal, mundane life of 8:00 to 5:00 working.

His mother says if he goes, she wants to go too...

Another shakeup on my blogroll-

My buddy Kenny has pulled the plug on his blog, Coffee in the Morning. Dang! He said he just got bored of it. I tried to get him to just put it on hiatus for a bit until his muse returned but this morning I found a dead link. Blog not found.

So, tomorrow I'll pull down his link from my blogroll. I've been working on a new list of dulcimer links but haven't taken the time to get them added. There's no rush but I'll probably get that managed this week.

In the mean time, I'll be looking at other bloggers that I like to add to my list.

Sensitivity Training for Our Troops-

To: All Commands

Subject: Inappropriate T-Shirts

Ref: ComMidEastFor Inst 16134//24 K

1. All commanders promulgate upon receipt.

2. The following T-shirts are no longer to be worn on or off base by any military or civilian personnel serving in the Middle East:

"Eat Pork Or Die" [both English and Arabic versions]

"Shrine Busters" [Various. Show burning minarets or bomb/artillery shells impacting Islamic shrines. Some with unit logos.]

"Napalm, Sticks Like Crazy" [Both English and Arabic versions]

"Goat - it isn't just for breakfast any more." [Both English and Arabic versions]

"The road to Paradise begins with me." [Mostly Arabic versions but some in English. Some show sniper scope cross-hairs]

"Guns don't kill people. I kill people." [Both Arabic and English versions]

"Pork. The other white meat.' [Arabic version]

"Infidel" [English, Arabic and other coalition force languages.]

3. The above T-shirts are to be removed from Post Exchanges upon receipt of this directive.

4. The following signs are to be removed upon receipt of this message:

"Islamic Religious Services Will Be Held at the Firing Range At 0800 Daily."

"Do we really need 'smart bombs' to drop on these dumb bastards?"

5. All commands are instructed to implement sensitivity training upon receipt.
Some folks can spoil everybody's fun...

I'm a Little Afraid to Gloat, but-

Last night, after the Boy and I huffed and chuffed furniture around in the family room, switching the tv and table from one side of the room to the other and moving the couch so that it too was on the opposite wall from where it began, reconnecting the television, DVD and VCR cables and running an extension cord so that the lamp could be plugged in, the BSU admitted that the other way was better than her way.

She admitted I was right!

Every married man knows what I'm talking about. It doesn't happen often that we are not only right but told we are right by someone we love. More often, we do whatever the way somebody else wants whatever done and even if the results aren't perfect, everybody lives with that decision. Its just the way it is. We know that.

Of course, the solution to the furniture arrangement, and thr restoration of the Feng Shui sweetness in our family room requires further heavy lifting and huffing and chuffing on mine and the boy's part. Which might have to wait until the new carpet is ordered and installation arranged. Or it could be tonight, depending on the BSU's mood after being in the room a bit longer.

But at least once this weekend- I was right!

This Weekend?

Lets see- after Friday morning's trip to the gun store and shooting range was a trip to SLC with the BSU for a Dr.s appointment and my first trip to a music store. I took in my dulcimer and the kind gent there hooked me up with a case and an electronic tuner and some picks. And he played music on my dulcimer! Just like that he set it on the counter and began playing music! It really works! I was really tickled and the clerk showed me several of the ways to use either a noter or your fingers to make notes and how chords can be played on the melody and drone strings.

And this weekend, I've learned to hack out a almost recognizable version of "Are you sleeping, Brother John." Its not pretty but its a start!

Saturday was a trip to The Home Depot for two new overhead lights for the almost finished family room and later a trip to the BSU's favorite place for dinner, Outback Steakhouse. The lights are low profile white circular flourescent units, 19" in diameter. There's two circular lamps in each so there is plenty of light in the room now. That ugly dangly light that I've hated for 6 years is finally gone and resting forelornly in the trash can! I also did some touchup work in the bathroom in the morning and we watched rented movies instead of going out for a movie.

Today the Boy's Tracker starter finally died after making horrible noises for 5 years and so he changed it while I supervised- and paid for the new starter, $140! I also got some practice with the dulcimer, installed the second light, cleared away most of the tools from the painting job and cleaned up the kitchen after breakfast.

And now its time to move some furniture around before finally getting to sit it it until bedtime!

Another blog moves off the list

I usually don't mention it when I remove a liink from my blog roll. Its not that big a deal and since the list is over there for my benefit, really, I never suppose that anyone else notices if a blog goes missing.

But Snooze Button Dreams has been changed from Jim's blog of silly ideas into a forum called the Skeptics Society. And I just don't have time for another forum. I spend too much time on scooter forums and gun forums and off-roading forums so I just can't stand another. So, if you're interested in the Skeptics Society, you better bookmark it now because the link on the right is being removed.

I bought another gun- Updated

Ever since I decided I just would not be happy without a 45 caliber gun in my locker, I've been fussing about which gun to buy. I strongly considered gun dealer Bob's Llama in a commander size, but then I had a look at a Ruger P345 and it became my 45 caliber gun of choice. I did choose the all blue-steel version instead of the stainless model shown. I decided I preferred the understated one color look instead of the "tactical" look of the stainless slide.

I bought it yesterday at Impact Guns and immediately put 60 rounds through it. Its perfect! I was shooting the centers out of targets from 25 feet and loving every minute of it. I really wish I would have kept the target until I had a photo but there's always next time.

This is a dandy service pistol and I intend to put lots of ammunition through it in the coming years. Right now I'm heading out to the shop to give it its first cleaning. FWIW, I did not pay anything close to the suggested retail in that Ruger link!

UPDATE: I really didn't say enough about this Ruger so I did a little searching and came up with a dandy review at Gunblast.com. There's some very good photos of the gun's features there.

It is Veterans Day

It is hard for me to feel entitled to that term of honor. While I honorably served my country for 21 years in uniform, I still look up to those others that served in far worse conditions, in uncertain and dangerous duty and with no idea when they might get back home to their loved ones. I have tremendous respect for those that still serve and fight and defend, wherever our leadership sends them.

I am in awe that through doing my duty I can count myself as one of the band of brothers known as an American Veteran.

Musical Update-

My book of lessons and the accompanying CD and DVD arrived yesterday! Now I need a pick and an electronic tuner. Lucky for me, on Friday we have a trip planned to SLC and I know where there is an accoustic music store.

My dulcimer is a teardrop, backpacker style, similar to the one pictured. I might have to get a padded carrying case like the one shown so my dulcimer can be travel safe.

There is a grundle of information about dulcimers and all kinds of instruments at Folk of the Wood so I'll be studying up at their pages for the next few weeks.

I've ordered two more sheet music books for me to learn from today! The first is Hits of the Beatles and the second one is The Dulcimer Hymm Book. Interestingly, the text says this hymm book is for hammered dulcimer but it shows a mountain dulcimer on the book cover. So I took a chance and I bought it. Its the old-time hymms that I grew up with that I'm really interested in learning to play, so I'm pretty excited about this book. The Beatles songbook seems like it might be pretty entertaining and of greater interest to other folks if I get competant enough to play outside of my closet.

School? Studying? Writing papers? Who me? I just want to learn to play!







And go to the gun range, of course!

The Furnace is Working Again.

Its 9:45 and the repair guy just left. He didn't get here until about 8:15. He had been calling since 2 to say that he would be here within the hour...

The flame sensor probe needed cleaning and he found a broken spring for an air door that he was unable to twist into a working condition. So he's rigged for the furnace to work and will order the new spring and return when it arrives.

But we are warm again!

No Dulcimer Training This Weekend

But that doesn't mean I had nothing to do! My dad has already taken me to task this morning for not posting anything for a couple days. He thought maybe I was busy with my new dulcimer and my self-taught lessons. Sadly, the training materials have not yet arrived, so the dulcimer did not get played with. That's not to say that my weekend wasn't fun-filled, because it was. And it kept me dang close to busy.

First, Friday after work was an expensive trip to the commissary for a couple week's worth of groceries, then while the frozen foods warmed in the back seat, the BSU and I joined son Noah and his buddy Donovan for dinner at Famous Dave's BBQ. We had our usual feast for 4 that's served up on a galvanized trash can lid along with a margarita or two. Then it was home for a combined effort to put away the groceries and the paper bags folded up and stashed away before collapsing for a little TV before bedtime.

Saturday morning I went with friend Kenny and his neighbor Mike to the ELGS (Evil Loophole Gun Show, if you don't know) in south Salt Lake. We only spent a couple hours there and nobody went home with any new firearms. I think Mike escaped with his wallet unharmed but Kenny and I did find some essentials that we couldn't live without. What did I get bring home? Ah, 500 rounds of ammo for the SKS, 200 for the P11, another 100 rounds of 38 Special and some accessories for both of those guns. The SKS needed a soft case to keep it safe during transport and the P11 needed a holster and a spare magazine. Of particular interest, with the new magazine, the P11 becomes a P13. The new magazine holds 12 rounds, not 10, apparently as a result of the expiration of the Assault Weapons Ban. To make the day even more special as a guys day out, we had lunch at Hooters and sang along to Meatloaf's Bat Out of Hell on the way home.

In the afternoon, the same 4 of us that went to dinner Friday night went out to see the new film Jarhead. A word of warning is required here- do not go see this movie if the 4 letter word that starts with f and ends with k offends you. Because it is used often and with fervor throughout the movie. In spite of that and some other frank discussion of what Marines do and talk about doing to combat their boredom, the movie was an interesting depiction of one Marine's view of Operation Desert Shield and Desert Storm. There's a tremendous amount of boredom, longing for home, frustration, mental health gone astray and training for a war that was not to be well suited for the scout-snipers protagonists of this movie. Its not a feel good movie and it isn't an anti-war movie. Its just the retelling of one Marine's tale. Its one of those movies that leaves you thinking about it days afterwards but its hard to discuss over coffee after coming out of the theater.

Sunday turned into another day of shopping but this time the BSU & I headed for Target and the toy department. Astin is going to be pretty well hooked up for Christmas this year! I have to say that its been a bunch of years since we frequented the Fisher-Price and Playschool sections of the toy aisles and what fun it is. Did you know they still make Weebles? And that Weebles are apparently having a new surge in popularity? I didn't either but I do now and a large farm of Weebles fun came home with us for Astin's toy box. And the spouse insisted we visit the brand new JoAnn's Fabric Superstore that was just across the street from Target. This new store is a huge improvement from the old, rundown, torn carpet, dingy joint that the BSU had stopped frequenting due to its condition. This new place is pretty wonderful if you like that kind of store filled with fabric and picture frames and sewing machines and glue and sequins. Its not so great for guys. I mentioned to one lady that the new store would be perfect if the designers had just put in a big screen TV and magazine rack and some comfy couches for guys to lounge in while spouses shopped and browsed.

What else? Hmm. Son Noah's been entertaining a young woman for a couple months who only comes around on Sunday evenings. Once or twice an angry, supposedly ex-boyfriend has appeared on our front step demanding to see the girl. Last night about 9:30, her parent's arrived to ring our doorbell demanding to see her! Good Grief! Apparently, she told somebody, I'm not certain who, that she was already down in Orem in her college dorm for the night when in fact she was at our house. Presumably that was the estranged boyfriend, since he knows where our house is and it seems he relayed that information to the parents who came to collect her.

And the furnace quit late last week so the repairman is scheduled for today. I looked at it and figured out that I didn't know enough to go messing with it, so I'll just write the check once the big tan box is back in operation.

NOTE: Since I'm posting this through email, the formatting may be all ugly with line breaks in incorrect places. There's also no links to anything. Reason being that my access to the www is going to be very restricted this week. I'll try to fix the formatting tonight after I get home from school.

I Just Sent Up My Ski Resort Job Application!

If you have been coming around here for any length of time, you might remember that for several years son Noah & I have worked at Powder Mountain Ski Resort as part time ticketcheckers. This job allows us unlimited skiing for the season in exchange for working two Saturdays each month. Last year the resort didn't use ticketcheckers and I had to purchase ski passes, which was a bummer.

This year, they have returned to the volunteer ticketchecker scheme and I called today and spoke to the boss for that section. He knew who I was and is interested in having us back this year! So I've emailed in the application and will be awaiting his call in a couple more weeks!

Woo Hoo!

Dilbert Gets His Own Blog!

Actually, its Scott Adams' blog but hey, he's the artist that brings us Dilbert every day. This one goes on my blog roll!

Two New Scooter Bloggers On My List Tonight

In response to my search for fellow scooter bloggers over at the International Scooter BBS, tonight I'm pleased to welcome two new scooterists to my blog list. The first is Scooter Diva, a website and resource for women that ride. There is a brand new and very comprehensive guide of available scooters for anyone interested.

Also, The Long Way Around tells in some interesting detail of one guy's fun and travails with his Vespa while he rides in San Francisco. The writer's had a devil's own bad time trying to get the transmission and clutch working properly, which doesn't speak well for Vespa's ability to meet customer requirements. But our intrepid writer's a good one and he's taken some lengthy journeys down California's coast and documented his adventures.

Check them both out!

Another Great Video!

Sent to me by one of the commenters, Cleat from yesterday's kart video link. This one is about commuting in Saigon. I've got to say that it is equally as scary as the kart video but for different reasons. Check it out.

Thanks Cleat!