Well friends and neighbors...

...I’m off all of next week, until the 31 of December.

Have a merry, safe and happy Christmas, all of you. I hope you have fun and get some of the things you want.

Hasta luego y feliz navidad.

Eggless nog

2 ½ Cups (C) soft tofu – usually 1 store bought vacuum-sealed container is enough

3 C Soy milk (add more or less to suit taste)

1 Tbsp Vanilla extract

¾ - 1 C sugar

2 Tbsp maple syrup

¼ tsp turmeric

¼ - ½ tsp nutmeg

½ tsp rum flavor (or real rum if you swing that way...)

 

In blender blend tofu, 1C milk, syrup, sugar, spices and vanilla and rum flavors until smooth. Pour in to pitcher and add the rest of the soy milk. Stir well, chill, and serve. MMMMMM! The yumminess!

Don’t be a sad vegan warrior during the holidays!

By the way...

...doesn’t the name ‘Occupational Homicide’ sound like a great name for a rock band?

Well, I think it does.

Driving pet peeves...

Here is the link for today. I have to agree with some of these, as I even see them now in greatly reduced traffic at 4PM. I think the ones I dislike the most are either the people who don’t use their blinkers (and almost get rear-ended), or the ones who camp out in the left lane while sightseeing at 20 under the limit.

2 Posts in 1!!!!

2 things tonight:

 

            First, I just found out that Eastgate Drug will be closing its doors on Saturday, 1 Dec 07. Here is the link for the Channel 8 story. So, for Ben and I, and Lyman Holyoak and any others who may have been employed by Doug, this is the closing of a chapter in our lives. I remember working for Doug while he was still in the old building, and also helping move all of his stuff out of there in to where they are/were now.

I wonder what Doug is saying right now...

 

            Second, a website that I frequent has a Star Trek questions thread going on. As I have admitted in the past, I am a Trek geek, but not a Trekkie. If you call me a Trekkie, I’m liable to come after you with a power-sander and a bottle of lemon juice. But even I was amazed at the amount of info I have stashed away in my noggin when I was able to answer some of the questions in this thread. Here is the link for it. Read it and see how well you fare.

 

I’m beginning to think that I ought to get Deep Space 9 on DVD before I get a new computer. That would be sweet!

Well, no pictures, unless I can figure out how to make the picture send in the email, and not as an attachment.

Hey, my e-mail test worked.

 

Now I just have to figure out how to go back and edit. I probably can’t, not without being at home. That kinda sucks, but at least I can post.

 

Now for a picture test:

This is an e-mail test...

 

ADDICTION IS NOT A DISEASE, YOU MOUTH-BREATHING, SLACK-JAWED IMBECILES!!!!!!11111

 

Addiction comes about because people make consistently poor choices. I know, because I have an addiction of my own. Don’t remove the responsibility from them just because you want to sell your heroin-addiction withdrawal reducer drug.

 

I don’t have a problem with people seeking help for their addictions in whatever way they see fit, but don’t take away their ability to choose by calling it a disease.

Back online...

...at least temporarily, here from home.

I'm working nights now, probably permanently, and the work computer decided to block Blogger. So, if I post, I'm gonna have to do it from home, or e-mail the post to myself here on Blogger.

I'll figure something out...

Bye!!!!

Another one...

HAPPY BIRTHDAY dearest sister of mine!

She's .... 24 I think.

Happy Birthday, Lemur!

Just another sign that civilization as we know it is doomed...

...I peeked in to the break room and "Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader?" was on. A ~23 year old woman was asked "How many consonants are in the word vowel?" Her reponse was that the word is spelled "voul", so there are 2. Some of the 5th graders gave her a look like she was out of her mind. The little girl she had helping her got the correct answer, which is 3, and the young woman got nothing except the opportunity to look foolish in front of prime-time America.

If I had an emoticon of a smiley-face shaking his head, I'd put it here. -> <-

The irony of this post would be if I had mispelled something and I didn't catch it.

"Our deepest fear...

...is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented and fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small doesn't serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are born to manifest the glory of God that is within us. It's not just in some of us; it's in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others."

Nelson Mandela 1994

This quote gives me chilly-bumps.

This is awesome...

...a shirt that shows the strength of the Wi-Fi signal where ever you are.

For those of you that aren't as tech literate as others, Wi-Fi is another name for wireless internet, usually over a large area (cities and such.)

I'm not geek enough to get one, but it made me laugh.

It's Sunday...

...and it's been too short of a weekend. However, it was interesting.

It started raining Friday night, and by Saturday morning it had turned to snow. It didn't stick, but it was the first snowfall of this season.

We also went to a wedding reception at Wheeler Farm in Murray. But while we were there we met a whole FLOCK OF GEESE AND DUCKS. Like 200 of them. The geese were honking, the ducks quacking, all milling around our feet, waiting for the bread that we didn't have, but they were sure we did. The funniest thing is that it started with 3 ducks and a goose, and the goose must have said something; because then a line of 150+ ducks and geese come waddling our direction, making quite a bit of noise. They were so close we could have touched them. When we went to go in to the receptuion, all of them, all 150+ FREAKIN' GEESE AND DUCKS, turned to follow us as we went away. The geese were honking merrily, and the ducks waddling along, waiting for their bread.

Unfortunately we didn't have the camera. But we plan to go back and get a picture of us in the flock.

Here's how it looks now...

Here are the 2 IBM 2210's. We got rid of the Xerox, got rid of the cubicle wall around the UPS there in the top middle of the picture, and moved the other 2210 away frm the far wall. Now there's lots of room over there.

Here is the data storage unit on top of the 2 servers for Streamserve. That storage thing weighs about 45 pounds, and the servers weigh about 60 pounds apiece and are about 3.5 feet long.

Oh, and do you notice that empty space next to them? Yeah, that's ALL CLEANED OUT NOW! ALL 50 square feet of it!

Well, we're officially on our own...

Everyone who was part of our automated output (Streamserve) development team is now gone, never to return to SLC. They are scheduled to go to Seattle next, then Denver, and then I think they're gonna split up and do more DC's simultaneously.

However, before they left I was able to get pictures, all of which are ( L > R ):


First, the actual code writers for the Stream server: Tien Tien Lai, Phi Nguyen and Sundeep Reddy. The 2nd day they were here, they set up camp in Mark's office (at Mark's insistence). Poor Tien Tien (Tin Tin) was always cold, no matter where she was. She had some pretty funky dress shoes. She's all of 4 foot nuthin'. Phi was the only one with an Asian accent, and he used to work for Earth shoes (a pair of which I have on right now). He's a really nice guy. Sundeep was also super nice. He lived in Boston up until last year when he transferred to Atlanta. He was kind of their supervisor, but worked just as hard as the other 2. The 3 of them wrote the program for Streamserve.

Next, we have John Trippe. He was/is more or less the one overseeing this project for the company. He's a really nice guy with a real Southern-drawl, who doesn't like his picture to be taken, but who relented after I asked him 'please'.

Then there is Mike Governale and Dave Hutchins. We didn't see them much, but I think they were in charge of user names and login ID's.

Finally, there is Trevor McLinn and Tom Rials. I don't know where Trevor is from, but he was the youngest one here from the company. I think he works for John Trippe. Tom was from Mobile, Alabama, and every time he talked it was evident where he was from. He was the implementation person for the company on this project. He used to work the computer room in Birmingham, AL a while ago.

I'm gonna miss all of these people. They have become part of the team, and they're going to other places.

On a final note, I think Mark will be glad to have his office back.

Happy Birthday to Ben...

...I hope he's having fun at BYU.

Today is also my supervisor Mark's birthday.

I also went to the driving range with Val, her sister and my father-in-law to hit golf balls.

The only thing I will say is that I do not have any innate/latent talents at golf. It will be an acquired skill if I ever choose to follow it.

Wouldn't this be great to have?

A copy of the Magna Carta from the year 1297.

That was 710 years ago!

How much has changed since that time, when democracy was not nearly as prevalent as it is now. Granted, it's not global, but it has spread much further than it was at that time.

Just a thought, but was the Roman Empire also a democracy? How about the Greeks?

Wow, that was a long time ago.

My, how times change...

This is a 1 gigabyte hard-drive from 20 years ago. That is also a 1GB flash card being held at the right of the picture.

Makes me wonder where we'll be in another 20 years.

Here is the link.

Some things make me shake my head...

Here is the link with the photo.

A random quote this morning...

...that I thought of on the way to work this morning.

" 'nother glorious day in the Corp. Day in the marine corp is like a day on the farm: every meal is a banquet, every paycheck a fortune, every formation a parade! I love the Corp!"

Taken from the movie Aliens. I couldn't find a script that had that qoute on IMSDB.com .

That movie still rocks...

I'm split on this one...

A coach sends a 10-year old boy home in his underwear...

Obviously, if this did happen, the coach is an insecure retard for humiliating this child in front of others.

But what about the kid? Couldn't he have said "No, I'm not going to do that. I'll leave, and I understand you don't want me on the team, but I'm not gonna take my clothes off..." Now, he probably wouldn't have said it exactly that way, but I was taught that you don't take off your clothes except in certain situations, none of which involve more than 1 other person at a time, and that person I am married to.

I think the parent needs to have a talk with the child and reinforce that no one has the power to make him do this, under any circumstance.

And the coach, if he's guilty, should be humiliated just as bad as the child was.

A couple of good qoutes for your Monday...

...from the Wikipedia article on Mahatma Gahndi.


"An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind."

"There are many causes that I am prepared to die for but no causes that I am prepared to kill for."

I like the 'eye for an eye' one a lot. Retribution is ultimately futile, isn't it?

My self-declaration...

I am a successful person, regardless if someone else says I am or not, if they say I am timid, or scared of others, or whatever. I will become successful in order to help others better themselves, and to show everyone else that I can do what I say I can do. I choose to be successful and wealthy every day.

I will not be part of the 50% of people who get life-changing information and do nothing to change their situation. I will change my situation so that I can become financially independent in 5 years or less.

If someone I love or respect tells me that I shouldn't do what it is that I want to do, I will tell them that I respect their opinion, but that I am going to do what I feel/know is best for me.

My future is mine, and doesn't belong to anyone else. I will make the decisions for myself that I know are best for me.

Heavenly Father wants me to become financially secure so that I can serve Him and others, and help others to better their lives. I can't serve as effectively if I am stuck at a job for 8 hours a day.

Well, I'm out...

...for the rest of the week. I'll be back Tuesday.

Have a fun weekend and a great Labor Day!

Be safe.

A hole in space...

...or just a lot of nothing. At least that's what the scientists say. 5 to 10 billion light-years away, and a lot of emptiness inside that area.

It immediately reminded me of this Star Trek: Voyager episode where thay pass through just about the same thing.

And yes, I am a Star Trek geek.

The only thing I can think of...

...when I read this article, which talks about how fast dinosaurs were, is that scene in Jurassic Park where the T-rex is chasing the Jeep with Muldoon, Sattler and Ian Malcolm, with the 'Objects in mirror are closer than they appear' image.

"Must go faster..."

What I don't understand about this article is...

...why is anyone surprised that people are defaulting on loans now, when they couldn't afford the mortgage in the first place?

I blame the lenders, who didn't even see if a person had the capability to repay their loan before giving them the money. I also blame the people getting the loans in order to buy houses that they can't afford. I don't know what people think, that they can get large amounts of money to buy a ginormous estate, and then they aren't responsible to pay it back? Or did they over-estimate their earnings? Or did they over-estimate the appreciation of their "asset".

I put "asset", because a house is not an asset, because it earns you nothing. It may appreciate in value, and you may sell it for more than you bought it. But you still have to live somewhere, and the market is also appreciating along with your "asset". However, your house/mortgage is an asset to the institution that lent you the money to buy the house, since you pay it back along with interest.

I think almost all people try to buy things they can't afford, because they don't have the patience to buy a true asset that will make them be able to afford the things they want. They want it RIGHT NOW NOW NOW!!!!!!11111

Well, I'm not surprised by the market conditions. I feel sorry for those people who are gonna be foreclosed against, but that is the consequence of their actions.

I think everyone needs a real financial education, and don't just rely on someone who doesn't have your best interests at heart. Take responsibility for yourself...because no one else is gonna do it.

By the way, Val and I are gonna become educated in these things very soon. I challenge you to do the same.

Artificial life...

...made in a lab, and NOT by artificial insemination.

Scientists are trying to create a single cell by artificial means, starting with the cell membrane.

Am I too paranoid because I envision, based on this qoute at the end of the article; "Bedau said there are legitimate worries about creating life that could "run amok," but there are ways of addressing it, and it will be a very long time before that is a problem.
"When these things are created, they're going to be so weak, it'll be a huge achievement if you can keep them alive for an hour in the lab," he said. "But them getting out and taking over, never in our imagination could this happen."

Am I paranoid to think that this is the typical start to a lot of sci-fi novels where life is created, then gets away from the scientists?

Ah, I love the Internet, because it gives me things like this...

I know it's small, but you can see an enlarged version here (I think so, but the work PC won't let me go to it. Stupid Websense.)

Happy 25th birthday...

...to the CD.

Yes, today the CD is 25 years old.

I was only 4 years old when it started. I remember listening to 'Dark Side of the Moon' and Beethoven's 5'th Symphony on LP records, but I also remember buying my first CD player, and even my first CD set ( Pink Floyd's Delicate Sound of Thunder concerts, which I still have).

I wonder what the next big format will be after the CD dies out, and the the mp3.

Also, Joel's birthday is on Sunday. I think he's 22, so drop him a line and wish him a happy birthday.

Have a great weekend!

Your weekly update...

An interesting weekend. Val and I went and saw Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix on Friday. It was an OK movie. Nothing spectacular.

Saturday we went to a concert at Temple Square in the Tabernacle, but we arrived late and only caught Beethoven's 5th. Kind of sad, but it was still awesome to be able to watch the orchestra play one of my favorite selections of music. We also found out that Pres. Faust had died the day before, and that's why the flags at Temple Square were at half-staff.

Yesterday we went to a 24 stake YSA(Young single adult) fireside, even though we aren't 'S', because the speakers were Linda and Richard Eyre. Val was very excited. It was a great thing to be at.

Wokin' on a Saturday...

I'm here at work doing the weekly restart of the computers/AS400.

I don't have much to say, except that Val and I are going to a baptism and then a funeral today. I'm not too excited about the funeral part, but that is part of life, isn't it?

Oh well. Have a great weekend!

Life...or death?

Your link for the day, that hits a little too close to home.

The link is from CNN, and it links to an article about where the line is when it no longer seems feasible to keep a terminally sick person alive.

The 'too close part' is this: my brother-in-law's (Adam) wife's (LauraLee) mother was in a car accident on Friday , 27 July 07, at 2600 South and Highway 89 in Woods Cross. The power was out, and someone ran the 4-way stop. She was Life-flighted to the U (University of Utah), where her family was told that she was brain-dead.

Now, I don't know what her exact condition right now is, but I wouldn't want to be left 'alive' if I knew I would never regain any semblance of my normal life. Nor would I want to be strung along while my family waited for a miracle to return me to normal (or, for me, what passes as normal).

To quote the article "Recent research into the brain seems to be making it more difficult to say when a terminal patient is actually dead. It turns out that patients considered brain-dead may have a minimal consciousness left and therefore still be technically alive.

"The research seems to suggest that it's very difficult to distinguish the minimally conscious from the permanently unconscious," said Georgetown bioethics professor Robert Veatch."

Where does life end and death begin? Who is ultimately responsible for making the life-altering decisions for me when I can't make them?

If anything, this week has made me realize the importance of having a living will made up, as we never know when we're gonna kick the bucket.

"I wanna go home..." "Shut up, you little weasel!"...

OK...

Your link for the day.

For those of you who haven't read the 7th Harry Potter book yet, but are going to: don't click the link as it contains spoilers.. For those of you who don't care, click away!

The link is a short article about what happens after the end of Book 7. Right on.

Monday...

I picked up the last Harry Potter book on Saturday, started it on Sunday morning, and I'm about 80% done. I think I'll finish it tonight.

I'm not gonna post spoilers, nor does this link have any. I will say that I like this book A LOT!!!!!1111 It's very exciting. I've even felt chilly-bumps when I've read it.

Ahhh, Friday...

...this thread got me thinking: Would I pay $100 million for a real lightsaber?

I know my brother-in-law Craig would, and I'd hope everyone would get in cortosis-weave bunkers when he does. But me, I don't know. It sure would be cool, even if I couldn't block bullets or anything.

I suppose, ultimately, it would be pretty useless. Cool, but not useful.

Have a fun weekend. Val and I are gonna play racquetball tonight. Whoo hoo!

And, Happy Birthday to my sweet mother-in-law today.

Bye!

PS Oh, and if you've been living under a rock and haven't heard, the last Harry Potter book comes out tomorrow. Go out and support a great author, if you want.

Update #2 - a cool qoute I heard this week that I like: Honesty is the highest form of love.

Indeed it is.

So.....tired.....

...that I'm gonna wimmp out on this post, and post a few ninja pictures.

Bye!

A few changes for your visual input...

Well, a couple of changes here today.

I added a counter at the bottom of the blog to keep track of how many hits this little blog gets.

I renamed the blog into something a bit more .... interesting. Have I metioned just how much I like tofu? No? Well, tomato basil baked tofu and/or savory baked tofu are SO EXCELLENT with noodles and tomato sauce. The savory tofu has the same consistency as chicken, so it goes great with pasta, or on top of rice with soy cheese, sweet-n-sour sauce and lettuce. MMMMMMmmm. Yummy.

Mom and dad's anniversary is today. They have been married 30 years I think. Dad's birthday is tomorrow. Rock on!

I think they both have completed their move to WA, even if they haven't started/finished unpacking yet.

Sorry for being silent last week. I took Thursday and Friday off last week, along with the free day on the 4th. 5-day weekends for the win!

By the way, the 4th was lots of fun. Went and played volleyball in 100+ degree heat, sweated a lot, swam for 2 hours, stuffed myself silly, and went and watched fireworks at Lagoon. And I did all of this in the knowledge that I didn't need to be back to work until today.

Evil? Absolutely Fun? Definitely.

The best part is that I didn't even get sunburned. SPF 30+ FtW!(for the win)

Ah, inventory...

It's almost done. I've been here since 6 this morning, and I'll prolly be here til 4 or 5.

Easy money, as they say.

Have a great weekend!

A little too close...

...this happened about half a mile from work, at the Arby's I used to go to lunch at. It's on Redwood and 17th South. Apparently they tire-spiked Redwood to get him, after he killed a police officer at the U, car-jacked someone's Ford, then ran amok on I-15 and -215 at high speed.

Here is another link/photo of this...person. He's freaky lookin'.

All of this makes me want to conceal/carry more and more. That, and it makes me wonder about the state/efficacy of the justice department and its enforcement.

I also wonder why people who do this think they can get away from the law. Sure, you can get a fast car, but you can't outrun radio, can you?

Ben can appreciate this quote "It's not his fault that he can behave/society's made him go astray/perhaps if we're nice he'll go away."

Father's Day pictures...

Here's me with my most excellent tie that Val got me for Dia de padres. It goes great with my suit, don't you think?

By the way, it's hard to keep your eyes open in direct sunlight...

Post #2

Ahhhh, game playing fathers. Excellent.

I plan on having 2 or 3 old computers LANed for my kids and Val, so we can all play together. What fun it would be to play MechWarrior 3 or 4 together, or maybe Birth of the Federation. Right on!

I disagree...

I'm all for game guides. I have no problem buying them, looking at them, reading up on the game I'm gonna play. It is frustrating to play a game and not be able to find the things you need in-game. Game guides obviate that frustration.

It's not cheating, it's aiding me to keep my blood-pressure down. And that helps everyone. Besides, no one likes to lose.

Now, Valerie doesn't agree with this view, and that's OK. She'll play until she's about to give up before she'll go to a guide. Again, that's OK.

Here is the link to the comic.

Ahhh, deoxyribonucleic acid, how important you are...

...and how complex you are.

DNA is more complex than people thought, and the so called 'junk DNA' is not junk after all.

Makes me wonder what else there is in the world that we think we understand, but don't really. I think it's everything. Also makes me wonder how people can deny the existence of God, and think that all life is an astronomically huge (statistically speaking) coincidence.

(/soapbox)

I was cruisin' teh intarwebs this morning...

...and I came upon this.

It's a map comparing states' GDP's to other countries in the world.

It looks like UT has the same GDP (gross domestic product) as the country of Peru.
Michigan = Argentina , AZ= Thailand , ID=Ukraine , CA = France(wow!)

I think there are some people who have more time on their hands than they know what to do with. I suppose I'm one of them since I found it(but someone had a link on Ars that I followed).

Wow, that was quick...

...Mom and dad sold the IF house in 3 FRICKIN' DAYS!

3!

They put it up Thursday 7 June, had an offer of $2k more than they were asking on Friday, and they signed off yesterday.

Amazing...

Back to days...

...and boy is my schedule whacked. I couldn't get to sleep until ~12 last night, and woke up @ ~6. It's been a bit of a long day.

I have nothing to say today, yet, but if something comes up, I'll let you know.

I'm not gonna get on my soapbox...

...all I am gonna say is that this is a very sad situation, and it involves everybody.

I think the link speaks for itself.

I'm workin' nights this week, so I'm gonna go.

Have fun!

P.S. An interesting weekend. Val decided she wanted to go up into the foothills close to the house, in preparation to taking her Cub Scouts sometime in the near future. I should have worn pants, but nothing found me appetizing, fortunately. We only went ~ 2 miles, and the trail is ~6. Just a bit long. She wants to do the whole thing some morning soon. I don't think I really want to, but I'll prolly go so that she doesn't go alone.

Here's the first one...

...all put together. It's about 6.5 feet long, and weighs about 1000+ lbs. It's expensive, too. At least $40 or $50, as Tim said yesterday. He's the one w/ the mustache in the top picture. Rob is the other guy. He (Rob) is the one who came by first yesterday and started putting things together. In person they look lots less dorky than they look in this picture. In fact, they're lots of fun to be around.

This printer seems pretty cool. It'll staple things by itself, and can hold a WHOLE FREAKIN' BUTTLOAD of paper. Those 3 drawers on the right will hold at least a case of paper, and the others can hold a lot also.

I know, I know...Geeky fun. Oh well.

One of the new printers came in yesterday...

...and here is the stack. The 'automated-output' printer is on the right, and the stack of associated hardware on the left is taller than John is. And this is just one printer of possibly 3.

I'm not sure how we're gonna fit 1 or 2 more in here. I thought we had a lot of room, but the boxes take up a ton of room. We can handle 1 more, but 2 is ...'iffy'.

Maybe, when the others come in, we'll have to unpack them outside, and then wheel them in to place.

They take up a lot of room, but it sorta feels like Christmas. We both want to get in to stuff and put it together. But, like good boys, we'll wait for the IBM guy to come in and do it.

A slow week...

...which is why I haven't posted anything.

But here is your Friday post...

Played racquetball last night, and didn't do too bad. Here are the scores: 11-15, 15-5, 3-15, 2-2.
I won 1 out of 3 games, which is better than last time. The last game we were running out of time, and that was the score we were at when we finished.

All things considered, I don't feel too sore from last night, but I REALLY should get back in to the exercising thing. It's hard to start again...

Have a great Memorial Day!

Well, it's Friday...

...and I'm in to work for ~1.5 hours, to help Mark through the busiest part of the day. I think I'll leave around 1 or 1.15.

Soryy for not posting this week. Either there hasn't been anything worth it to post, or I've been so busy putting out figurative AS400 fires to even try to post. It seems to have stabilized now, and hopefully this coming Sunday is better than the last one.

Have a great weekend...

I just found the coolest site!

Funny, non-offensive (to me), and marginally helpful.

I love it!

I am so tired right now...

I worked for Taunya last night so she could have a scheduled day off for Mother's Day. The only problem with that is that when I got in to work, all of the AS400 order drivers were gone. This meant that we couldn't print any orders, call for invoices, run returns, etc. Everything was stopped. Apparently, some 'l-user' (say it together) tried to run a reorganization of our files, and didn't keep track of it. It never finished, and nothing ever came back up.I tried to get things going by starting things manually, but that didn't work. I called the help desk, and they tried to help, but things didn't start working until 9 or 10 P.M., after we restarted the sytem for the 2nd day in a row.

That's 6 FREAKIN' HOURS! Of hardly anything happening!

Long story short:I got home at 2.15 this morning, and I'm back at work today.

I think I'm gonna go to sleep at 8.30 or 9 tonight.

*feh*

It's a good day so far...

I was driving in to work this morning: all the windows and sunroof open, GnR rockin', sun out, nice temperature. I just thought of how nice it was to be alive at that moment; my wife loves me, I'm gettin' in shape, I have fun things to do, I work at a job that I don't hate/despise/loathe, etc.

It was just nice.

Now, as I'm sure you'll all want to know, I lost all 3 of my racquetball games last night. But, it wasn't heinous: 16-14, 15-9, 15-11. Not too bad for someone who hadn't played for 6 or 7 years.

Then I went and pitched for our ward softball team....I'm not a very good pitcher, but after 5 innings I was figuring it out. We won 12-9, despite my best efforts in the last inning to walk just about everyone on the other team. I'll do better next week. It was still fun.

And yes, I'm sore, but it's a good sore.

P.S. SafetyPoints are things that my work does for us being safe. Every month, depending on if we take CPR refresher courses, fire safety, emergency response training, forklift safety, etc. we get more safety points. I take forklift training and basically stay out of the way. For this I get ~15 points a month. I'm useless in any sort of medical emergency. If a person sliced off their finger, I'd prolly freak out also. Fires- no freak out, but blood and such- FREAK OUT!!!!111 I remember one time when we had a merit-badge Pow Wow in IF, and we were doing 'Emergency Preparedness', and we went into the bathroom. Dad was laying there on the floor with fake burns on him, and fake blood. I remember having that sinking tummy feeling as I got anxious. I remember that feeling so well that I know I couldn't do first-aid on anyone who was in bad shape. I'd panic and prolly mess them up more.

...so, the SafetyPoints are redeemable for lots of cool things. We needed a digital camera, so that's what I got.

Yet another reason to take care of yourself...

...so that you don't need to take OxyContin and get addicted to it.

Purdue Pharmaceuticals just settled for a WHOLE BUTTLOAD OF $$$$$$$$ because they said, 4 years ago, that Oxycontin was less addictive and dangerous that oxycodone, which is highly addictive.

The only problem is that Oxycontin IS oxycodone, so it isn't very safe at all.

Way to increase the profits, people.

I bet the stockholders were happy.

Thursday...

This is my daytime co-worker John.
And this is me, with 'The Fauver Files' in the background.


I'm gonna play racquetball this afternoon. Hopefully I don't suck too much, since I haven't played for at least 6 years. Maybe more. Then, when that is done I'm gonna play ward softball. Then I need to make heart-cards for Dia de madres so I can mail them out tonight.

I'm gonna be sore tomorrow.

By the way, the camera I got is a Canon PowerShot A550, with a 7.1 Megapixel resolution. And best of all, it was free! Yay for SafetyPoints!

7.1 Megapixel goodness, finally!

There is the server rack, the AS400, the 2 printers we moved today, and the gaping hole they left on the floor. Look at all of that SPACE!

My desk at work with Blogger on my flat-screen, my blue cup of water and the picture of my hot Goo.

This is the computer room, looking through the door that we usually go in and out of. The door off to the right goes in to the warehouse. There is my green chair along the back wall, in the center.

And there is my supervisor Mark taking invoices off of the printer. The space behind him was cleared out today. There used to be 2 printers there, but the 3 of us(me, him and John) moved them out to make room for better, newer printers. Those will be coming in a month. Also, those are the work tables where we do just about everything, and the extreme fire hazard of about 100 boxes of paper stashed along the far wall.

Methane power...

...and NOT in the form of bean-powered farts!

...a methane rocket. I hope this becomes feasible. That would be pretty sweet.

What a weekend...

Val and I went to IF over the weekend, but had to come back as I had to teach a lesson on Sunday. We went up there with the express purpose of helping out with the back yard: transplanting flowers, trees, etc. and putting sod down. Unfortunately, it decided to snow Saturday A.M. , so we didn't work in the yard. Instead we moved things from downstairs into a storage shed. Some of those things sure were heavy.

Let's see...I got a new pair of shoes Thursday P.M. They're Earth shoes, and they're quite comfortable, at least as far as new shoes go. I used my baby-sitting money to pay for them.

On our way to IF we stopped in Layton, for a 10 minute trip into DI. We found a book that Val wanted, and I found ' Star Wars:Attack of the Clones'. Now I have all 3 books.

While in IF we found a couple of games that Val wanted: Legend of Zelda-4 Swords, and the MegaMan anniversary collection, both for the 'Cube. I also found a strategy guide for JetForce Gemini, which is an N64 game from about 10 years ago. I was surprised to find it for only $6.50. I also picked up Star Trek 3:The Search for Spock 2 disc set for $10. The best scene in there is when they take the Enterprise...

Yes, I am still a Trek geek. I like the music in that part. A lot.

Ummm. I can't really think of anything else that happened this weekend.

I need a real weekend again, soon. I have to work next Sunday, so the weekend will be short.

More thoughts...

Rain is good. Shoes are good. Exercise is good. But exercising in the rain with shoes that have holes in them isn't so good. So, we didn't go out this morning. We'll go out this afternoon.

I saw the cutest thing this morning on the way to work. I passed a car that had those kid sun-shades on the rear passenger windows, and they had elephants on them, each one holding on to the others' tails. No eyes or anything on them, but so cute.

Sleeping is good, and eventually your body will tell you that it needs to sleep, whether you want it to or not. You can't stop it.

Ummmmm. That's all for now...

A few realizations...

First, I'm frustrated that when I need to get new scriptures, I'll only be able to get them in either real leather or bonded leather.

Grrrr. >:(

Second, I like exercising in the morning, especially when I push myself and sweat, because I feel good for the rest of the morning.

Third, I like being able to get into the pool after I exercise. Mmmmmmm. It feels so good. By the way, the pool is at 88 degrees now, so I don't freeze in the morning.

Fourth, I'm gonna need to start getting up at ~5 A.M. so that I can get all the stuff done that I want to in the morning. Things like exercising, hopping in to the pool, showering, playing games, eating breakfast and getting all of my stuff ready for work...

*whew*

That's a lot of stuff to do, now that I think about it...

Have a great day...

Freakin' Monday's....

I feel old, tired, sore, grumpy and.....just 'blah'.

I watched Marcy's 4 boys all day Saturday, with an assist from the mom-in-law. A few observations from that experience: first, I remember why I don't play Legos much anymore. I'm too big and heavy to support myself, looking through a HUGE pile of Legos(thousands, at least), for any extended period of time(more than 5 minutes) on anything other than my feet. Propping myself up with my arms just doesn't cut it. Second, the easy way/cop-out way to watch kids is to put in a movie or let them play video-games to their hearts content. I didn't cop-out very much. I actually tried to get them to do things with me. Third, I'm glad the pool was opened at our house, even if it was at 72. Cold, but fun.

So, now I have had hardly any weekend, and I'm back at work. I'm tired. I feel like I've run a 5K and then didn't stretch when I got done.

P.S. I'm really steamed that my blood pressure hasn't gone down, even with all of my exercising. When they checked on Thursday I was at 154/92. Makes me wonder what the point is in even exercising, even if I know better. If I had angry emoticons, they'd be all over in this post.

Grrrrr. >:(

Honesty pays...

...except when you are dishonset about your schooling. Then getting canned from the Admissions Dept of MIT is the only reasonable thing to do. Isn't it?

On to a different topic: I gave blood for the first time last night. The stake was having a blood drive, and Val was gonna go at 3PM. But she didn't make it at 3, so we both went at 7. Originally I was going to support her, since she was apprehensive. This was gonna be her first blood-giving also. But I decided before we left the house that I would do it anyway. Long story short: Val wasn't able to donate due to her iron level not being high enough. I was able to do it, and didn't have any problems until it was all done and I got a look at the FREAKIN' HUGE NEEDLE STUCK IN MY ARM!!!!!11111

...seeing that made we a tiny bit woozy, but I made it. It was a rather out-of-body experience to see the red stuff coming out of me, through a tube, and being collected in a bag underneath me, and knowing that my bodily supply was diminishing. I didn't have a problem with the needle stick, except that I couldn't look as she was doing it. The stick didn't hurt at all. I don't even think I'm gonna bruise. The irony of it is that I have great veins, but I hate needles.

Both of us were very brave, together...

Well, apparently no one is reading this blog anymore...

...except for me. So I suppose I just won't worry about posting with any great frequency. Only when something interesting happens.

*sigh*

Oh well. It'll be all right.

Pot smokers unite!

I'm not one, but here is the 'Snopes' article on "National Pot Day".

A great way to kill brain cells, in my opinion. Right up there with smokin' tobacco.

*sigh*

Oh well.

Taxes are due today...

...so I hope you've either recieved your return, or are mailing out your 1040's today.

Val and I got our return in February. It's nice not to have to worry about it.

Red Supergiant...

" This Hubble Space Telescope image of the star V838 Monocerotis reveals dramatic changes in the illumination of surrounding dusty cloud structures. The effect, called a light echo, unveiled never-before-seen dust patterns when the star suddenly brightened for several weeks in early 2002.A light echo is light from a stellar explosion echoing off dust surrounding the star that produces enough energy in a brief flash to illuminate surrounding dust. The star presumably ejected the illuminated dust shells in previous outbursts. Light from the latest outburst travels to the dust and then is reflected to Earth.The phenomena is similar to that of a nova. A typical nova is a normal star that dumps hydrogen onto a compact white-dwarf companion star. The hydrogen piles up until it spontaneously explodes by nuclear fusion -- like a titanic hydrogen bomb -- exposing a searing stellar core with a temperature of hundreds of thousands of degrees Fahrenheit.By contrast, V838 Monocerotis did not expel its outer layers. Instead, it grew enormously in size. Its surface temperature dropped to temperatures that were not much hotter than a light bulb. This behavior of ballooning to an immense size, but not losing its outer layers, is very unusual and completely unlike an ordinary nova explosion.The outburst may represent a transitory stage in a star's evolution that is rarely seen. The star has some similarities to highly unstable aging stars called eruptive variables, which suddenly and unpredictably increase in brightness.V838 Monocerotis is located about 20,000 light-years away from Earth in the direction of the constellation Monoceros, placing the star at the outer edge of our Milky Way galaxy.Image credit: NASA, ESA, and The Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA) "

Link to picture

Hello again...

Not as cute as the first one, but sill worthy.

I still have trouble believing it...

...Mom and Dad say they are moving to Hanford Washington. Dad is gonna still be working for the DoE, and he needs to be there by May 18, and Mom will follow along after the house sells. I suppose an extra $30k a year is a difficult enticement to reject.

I guess this means I'll rarely, if ever, visit IF again, as there is no free place to stay. Unless Joel gets his own place...Paying for a motel gets kinda pricey...

Hello!

1 year ago...

...I found out that Bernie had died. I had come home from church and saw that John had called twice, and Penny once. When John told me what had happened, I thought it was a horrible joke. But, John had never called me before then...

*sigh*

A lot has happened in that year. Val and I veganized ourselves, and we started working out. Mark replaced Bernie, and I've turned 29.

Rarely a day goes by that I don't think of him, or the things he taught John and I. He was a good teacher, even if his temper left a lot to be desired.

I hope he's happy.

XP vs. Vista

OK, a little gory, but I wonder just how accurate this is of public sentiment. I, for one, am in no rush to upgrade to Vista. I would like to rush an upgrade on my PC, but not on the OS (operating system).

Link

I have nothing to say today...

...so I'll wish everyone a good weekend.

See you on Tuesday.

Cute picture day!

OH! The wrinkliness! Maybe he needs a dryer sheet.

Waiter, there's hares in my tea! They're cute, but...

Fat belly!

Bunny hugs!

Sleepy...

Well, the squid isn't soft and fuzzy, but it is kinda cute!

Doesn't it just frustrate you a lot...

...when you realize that something you want to do conflicts with your beliefs, unexpectedly?

Stupid paintballs are made with gelatin. I don't know if they make vegan ones, but I doubt it.

*sigh*

:(

Coming back to work...

...is rarely enjoyable, especially when you take 2 extra days off over the weekend.

*sigh*

I wish I was still at home.

My birthday was nice. The lasagna was perfect, the limeade sweet and tart, the garlic bread garlicky(sp?), and the carrot cake yummy. Val got me 'Sword in the Stone' on DVD, which was great. Her card was SO cute. As soon as I get a digital camera I'll take a picture of her card and post it.

Thanks to those who called and wished me a happy birthday, even if it was late or on time.

Happy birthday to me...

...I'm going home soon, and won't be back until Tuesday of next week.

I'll be 29 on Sunday the 25 March. I'm gonna have vegan lasagna and carrot cake! Yummy!

I don't feel too old.

I need to exercise more than I already am...

Happy bithday dear Frankie...

Read the entire post before link-clicking -or- Why I am vegan

It's not about the health benefits, although those are good.

It's about this.

Be warned that this is graphic. Frankly I couldn't sit through the first .25 of the video, as it made me want to cry and throw up at the same time. And I had it muted here at work, so I have no idea what horrid sounds were in there.

I challenge everyone who reads this blog to click on the link so that you can see where those chicken sandwiches and burgers and steaks really come from. Don't be afraid to learn new things, even if it is difficult. Then have the courage to live according to your convictions, and not to what is convenient.

Truth and knowledge = freedom.

Short, yet great.

"There are four boxes to use in the defense of liberty: soap, ballot, jury, ammo. Use in that order."

Ed Howdershelt

Signs seen during the weekend...and a random thought

At Bountiful Nutrition: "Scratch a dog's ears, and you've found a permanent job."

Yours, Mine and Ours (a consignment shop) : "We only sell cute stuff."

...and too many bedtime smooches from the wife who smooches while saying "I'm going. I'm going." leads her husband to make statements like this: "Less kisses, more leaving." :)

Pal joey...

"A 7-month-old koala hangs on to his mother at the Cleveland Metroparks Zoo in Cleveland, Ohio. The joey is the zoo's 11th koala birth since 1999. "

Cute koalas.

Image and text taken from here in the Offbeat Images link on the right side.

Sniffing out the competition...

"Basset hounds meet and greet one another at the Crufts International Dog Show in Birmingham, England."

I know Val will love this one. Image and text taken from here in the Offbeat Images section on the right side.

Poor polar bears...

...endangered by man, and man is unwilling/scared to do what needs to be done in order to affect a change.

At what point do we realize that every action we take, as humans, has an effect on everything around us? Whether it is driving on the freeway and tapping your brakes when unnecessary, thus backing traffic for 3 miles behind you, or supporting industries that pollute the most and exploit other harmless species ( * cough meat/dairy cough* ), the effect is the same. And most people are unwilling to change their habits/desires in order to change their sphere of influence for the better. They figure that they are either entitled to their excessive behavior, or can't muster the fortitude to make the decision to change their habits.

The .gov should be willing to do what is necessary to help, but people should also be willing to do what needs to be done.

Only those who have a vested interest in not finding a solution are the ones who are vocal about not finding one.

There is no good reason for a cover-up, and neither is there for apathy.

Post 300!!!!!!!1111111oneoneoneone

And it's a picture post, too!

Image and text taken from here.

"Two decades ago, astronomers spotted one of the brightest exploding stars in more than 400 years. Since that first sighting, the doomed star, called Supernova 1987A, has continued to fascinate astronomers with its spectacular light show. NASA's Hubble Space Telescope is one of many observatories that has been monitoring the blast's aftermath. The supernova is located 163,000 light-years away in the Large Magellanic Cloud. This image shows the entire region surrounding the supernova, the most prominent feature of which is a ring with dozens of bright spots, shining like cosmic pearls. Unleashed by the stellar blast, this material is slamming into regions along the ring's inner regions, heating them up, and causing them to glow. The ring, about a light-year across, was likely shed by the star about 20,000 years before it exploded. This image was taken in December 2006 with Hubble's Advanced Camera for Surveys. "

A new work computer...

...and I'm excited with it. I wish I could take it home to replace my old home 'puter. Mine is 6+ years old.
For anyone who understands, here are the new one's specs: P-3.4GHz, 1 G RAM, 71 G HD, and a DVD drive. In contrast, my one at home is a P4-1.5 GHz, 768 MB RAM(originally 256Mb) and a 40 & 60 Gb hard drives that I got somewhere, a hardware based DVD drive, and the original CD-RW drive.

...

Upon further reflection, my system isn't so bad, but it's nowhere near where it needs to be to play Supreme Commander.(This is a game link. Don't click it at work , as you might get in trouble.)

Oh, and happy 22/7 day. (Pi day! You know, the 3.1415 thing.)

Not much happening...

Sorry for being out of touch for so long. It's been busy, and I haven't posted anything that didn't seem worthwhile.

Hope you're all doing well.

A hole in the Earth...

..and they're gonna go check it out.

This sounds cool. It would be kinda scary to go down, in person, to look at the mantle of the earth. But, it would be exciting too. But, they're sending a robot to do the work.

Still, it would be fun...

That's a LOT of information...

Your link for the day.

"A new study has estimated how much digital information is zipping around -- hint: it's a lot.
The report, assembled by the technology research firm IDC, sought to account for all the ones and zeros that make up photos, videos, e-mail, Web pages, instant messages, phone calls and other digital content cascading through our world today. The researchers assumed that an average digital file gets replicated three times.
Add it all up and IDC determined that the world generated 161 billion gigabytes -- 161 exabytes -- of digital information last year.
That's like 12 stacks of books that each reach from the Earth to the sun. Or you might think of it as 3 million times the information in all the books ever written, according to IDC. You'd need more than 2 billion of the most capacious iPods on the market to get 161 exabytes."

Dude...that's....hmmmmm. I can't even imagine...

Look at me! Look at me. ... LOOK AT ME!!!!!!

Your other link for the day.

I wonder how outrageous famous people would be if the news didn't follow them around, and if their fans just liked their music/acting ability/voice/etc. If the media always responded with a "meh" instead of a circus and /or a frenzy, I bet they wouldn't do stupid things.

Unfortunately, since sex sells and the world turns on the celebrity axis, it's not gonna stop. So, we get more media obsession with Britney, Anna Nicole and/or anyone else who is willing to exploit/expose themselves.

Sometimes I wish I was blind...Life would be easier.

The death of rap...

at least according to CNN.com.

I agree that rap is a bad influence on society. But, it isn't the only bad influence.

The only question I have is...How the crap does rap qualify as music? Chanting? Yes. Singing? Sometimes. Harmony? No.

Now, I like some 'Rage Against the Machine' and 1 Coolio song, but I won't be sad to see rap lose some of its prominence.

I am special. I am special. Look at me...

An interesting study that I happen to agree with.

The study states that college students today are more self-centered than past generations, due to permissive parenting and the 'self-esteem' movement.

Yes, I am special. But, I don't deserve everything I want, and I don't always get all the things I want.

And I'm OK with that.

9 ways to help your heart...

are found here.

But, may I make a few...changes? I'm gonna make some anyway.

#1 Don't eat any dairy products at all. I don't understand how more can be better than none at all.

#2 is good, but maybe get out and take a brisk walk instead. Lots of fresh air is good for you...

#3 Instead of fish, try eating spinach salad with flax oil. 1 Tbsp of flax oil has more omega- 3,6,9 acids than fish does, and without the mercury. Here is where we get our flax oil : Barleans.com

#4 Pomegranate juice is great, and tates good too. Use sparingly, as it is a bit pricey, unless you can afford to guzzle it.

#5 Low salt soy sauces are good, but try a product called Braggs(liquid aminos), which isn't a soy product, but tastes like one. It's relatively low salt also.

#6 Laugh it up, fuzzball.

#7 Sleep is always good. Make time so you can get at least 8 hours. I find I do well on at least that much, but not more than 10 hours.

#8 & #9 Should be done anyway, but controlling your breathing sounds a bit difficult, especially for 10 minutes....um, I guess you go for it, if you have 10 uninterrupted minutes to concentrate on your breathing.

My weekend...

...was fun. Val and I went sledding on Friday, since I had the day off. Lots of snow, and lots of fun. There was about 1.5 feet of snow, and this was after it had stopped snowing for a few hours. And thus, we were really glad that we had snow-bibs and good boots to go have fun in.

I wiped out a couple of times, one time really hard. But we had lots of fun anyway.

How was your weekend?

"Guns don't kill poeple. I do."

All of this I'm about to post comes from the Penny Arcade website. You can go there for the unedited version. The only editing I did was change the f-word a couple of times

Here is what I wanted to post, and I quote Gabe:

"Yesterday I made a post about the teenagers that murdered the homeless guy and then blamed it on violent games. These kids have given the media their angle and just like all the other cases where games are mentioned no one will ever look any further. No one will ask what their family life was like, what their parents were like, what the kid was like before all this happened. Games did it and that’s the end of the story.

In my post I took the absolute extreme opposite approach. I laid blame completely on the parents and that was intentional. Penny Arcade is a satire site and people come here to laugh or get angry and that’s what we try to provide. I will admit that deep down as the father of a two year old I also want to believe that I as a parent can shape my kid into a decent human being. If I don’t believe that then…well I just have to believe that right now.
With that said I’m perfectly aware that the reality of the situation was somewhere between the two extremes. I know full well that violent games did not create this killer and I also know that his parents did not make him a murderer. Nothing outside of a comic strip and a goofy blog is ever that simple.

The sad truth is that the reality we’re talking about here would probably never actually see the light of day. The media will tell the story they want to tell regardless and that story will be about violent games. The parents of these kids will be lucky to get two lines in an article about the crime. If they tell a reporter that their son hardly played games or that he was fucked up long before they bought a Playstation do you really think that will make it into the final article? You’d never see that side of the story, not in a million years.

But you’re about to.

I am about to share with you an email I received from a Penny Arcade reader. She also happens to be involved in this case but obviously she’d like to remain anonymous. She has agreed to let me share her email with all of you and I can’t thank her enough for that. Like I said before, I know why most people come to Penny Arcade. You come every other day looking for a joke and a laugh. What you’re about to read isn’t a joke. It’s an extremely personal email sent by a very brave woman and I’m honored to share it with you.

""Gabe,

Your news post about the kids and the homeless man yesterday made me sick to my stomach, before I even read the CNN article. I knew what it was going to be about before even reading the article. It was not the article itself, or even your post that made me sick, it was the fact that I know this boy. Or, rather that I could be considered one of the “parents” of this boy.
The boy’s father and I have been together for almost seven years, and I had what I guess could be called a “stepmother” relationship with the kid. To say that living with this kid was hell would be a complete understatement.
I don’t think I have ever actively hated anyone in my entire life, but this kid just makes my blood boil.
As I write this, my teeth are clenched, my hands are shaking, and my whole body is seething with the hatred I feel for this kid and what he has done. Seeing the article brings back all the horrible memories from when he lived with us.
He was constantly in trouble in school, with the cops, with us, with his mother, and with anyone else who was an authority figure. Not a week went by that the school or the cops wouldn’t call us for something. His attitude was basically “ f you, I don’t have to listen to you” said with a shrug.
We tried absolutely everything we could think of to get him to behave like a normal human being… we tried groundings, negative reinforcement / punishment, positive reinforcement, counseling, and anything and everything the counselors suggested. We tried to get him interested and involved in extracurricular activities, like hockey, drama, music, art, anything, but he got himself kicked out of every group he was in with his “make me” attitude. When we would ground him, we took away everything. No TV, no computer, no phone, no leaving the house, no snacks or junk food…. Everything. When he was grounded, he was only allowed to sit in his room and read or draw. He was actually a pretty good artist, and we tried to encourage him to spend his time working with his talent. He would just sit there and take it… the groundings had absolutely no affect on him at all. Most of the time, he didn’t even remember why he was being grounded. At the end of it, we would ask him if it was worth it to have everything taken away in exchange for what he did… he usually just shrugged. He could be grounded for weeks, or a month at a time, and then the very next day would do something to get back in trouble again. Most kids get grounded or punished a couple of times, and then they want to avoid having to go through it again… not this kid, nothing seemed to phase him.
And we’re not talking the usual teenager stuff, like coming home late, or refusing to do the dishes. We’re talking stealing cars, setting fires, drinking, getting picked up for drugs, beating up handicapped kids at school (yes, really) stealing things out of our house… all with this “I’ll do whatever the f I want” attitude.
We had absolutely no idea what else we could do. We already had him in counseling, and we did everything the counselors suggested. We tried rewarding his good behavior (what little there was) to try to get him to see that when he behaves like a normal human being, things are good and people enjoy being around him. Nothing phased him at all.

Then, things took an even worse turn when he decided that whenever he didn’t get his way, or we did something he didn’t like, he told his counselors and teachers that we were abusing him. (Never happened.) And for some inexplicable reason, everybody believed him. I understand that child abuse is a very serious situation, and that they have to take every possible case seriously, but this was clearly a case of him manipulating people to get what he wanted. We had people from the school, cops, and social services over at our house or calling us on a weekly basis stating some new abuse that he had made up. At 14, the boy was already 6’3” and over 200 pounds. Of course, there was never a mark on him, because no such abuse ever took place.
One particular night (cops involved, as always) he decided that he didn’t have to listen to anything we said, and that he wasn’t coming home. He went to live with his mother, where things got worse by the day. He stole everything out of her home and sold it. He invited gang-bangers and drug dealers to her home, and she feared for her safety constantly. She called the cops numerous times because she feared for her safety, but again, the boy said that she abused him, and the cops always took his side. (For reference, the mother is about 5’3” and barely clocks in at 115.) He planted a loaded gun in her room, called the cops and told them that it belonged to the mother’s boyfriend. The boyfriend actually ended up serving time because of this f-ng bastard kid. She had two other young children in the house, and the gun and the abuse charges were an intentional plot to get the other two kids taken away from her. She tried restraining orders against the kid, but since he was a minor, they wouldn’t allow it. Every time he got picked up, she pleaded with the cops to take him to jail, maybe that would finally get though to him, but they just kept bringing him home to her. I don’t understand why everyone who was involved with this kid just blindly took this juvenile delinquent’s word over all else!
The night that he and his friends murdered that poor homeless man, the mother said that he was acting particularly cocky. Then he threatened to kill her. We had absolutely no idea of what he had done until they found the man’s body. He was immediately waived into adult court (at 15) and sentenced to 15 years. We were all absolutely sick with grief for this man.

We were also sick with guilt… “What could we have done differently?” was a constant question in all of our heads. After the kid was sentenced, all the cops, counselors, social workers, and people at the school that had been dealing with him contacted us and his mother and apologized for not taking us seriously. They are all trained to take all accusations of child abuse seriously, and as a part of that they blindly took the kid’s side for everything, and dismissed us as “the lying abusers”. Many of them told us that they wished they would have taken our pleas for help seriously. Everyone thought we were exaggerating about how f-ed up this kid was.

I completely agree with your statement of “These kids were twelve kinds of nuts and that’s a fact.” But the reason I am writing this to you is that, after reading your news post yesterday, I felt that I needed to defend the boy’s parents. His mother and father and I did absolutely everything we could think of to try to keep this kid in line. Even the kinds of things that normal teenagers get in trouble for would have been a blessing compared to what we’ve been through with him.

What I gave you today is a very small sampling of the kinds of things we were dealing with every single f-ing day with this kid. When people hear about what he’s done, I can always sense the “I’m sure there was something you could have done” comment coming up. What would you have done? How do you deal with a kid like this? Like I said, we did everything the counselors suggested, and nothing seemed to matter.

If you want to add another element to the “nature vs. nurture” idea, this boy has a brother. Both boys were raised in the same house, with the same values. The brother has developed into a kind, considerate, responsible, and independent young man. He is currently working his butt off right now to save up money to go to school for architecture. The only thing I regret is that we spent so much time and energy dealing with the bad kid that this boy missed out on having a normal family life with a normal sibling relationship.

I am sorry this got so long. I have been reading PA since the very beginning, and I feel that both of you are very much like me. I think we are the same age (29) and I have been a lifelong gamer like the two of you. I can’t stand hearing about the so-called correlation between games and real-life violence. Video games DID NOT make this kid who he was, and it’s unfortunate that the correlation is there.

The thing that really gets me with this whole thing is that the kid knows full well that by equating what he’s done to a video game, that he will generate controversy and media coverage. It makes me sick that the media is jumping all over this, because that is exactly the result that he wants.

The only good thing (if there is such a thing) that has come out of this whole ordeal is that the kid is behind bars. That is exactly where he needs to be.

Again, I’m sorry about the length of this. Thanks for allowing me to “tell my side” of the story. ""

So there you go. There’s the real story. This kid was broken. He’s decided to use videogames as a scapegoat because as crazy as he is, he’s not stupid. He knows exactly what he’s doing. The sad thing is that it will probably work."

I'm not gonna debate this one, since the lady says they tried all they could with this..."kid". It reminds me of the line in UHF where the guy says "Guns don't kill people. I do".

It makes me wonder when this kid apparently gave up his agency in order to be controlled by the demon XBox, or PS3, or that insidious Wii.

What a load of BS. You chose to subject yourself to evil influences, you chose to do things that were wrong , and thus put yourself in Stan's sway. Don't blame others for your own problems, you manipulative little devil.

I hope you like prison. I hope they never let you out.

And yes, I am being extremely unforgiving, but I deplore his actions. I don't know the whole story, and admittedly only one side, but what is he gonna say to defend himself except a cop-out? Stuff like this makes me sick, as I see it as another symptom that society will eventually destroy itself by not holding people responsible. Sure, he is in prison, but what about the lives he has harmed due to his negligence or apathy? What about the life he has taken?

I suppose everyone is entitled to a defense, but why does society seek to blame games, or sex, or drugs, or anything else as the sole reason of a persons behavior? Why can't we say that this person is messed up because of a lot of reasons, but that ultimately the choice was still his to do these despicable things, and thus he should pay for his crimes? Does society just need something to blame, rather than someone?

"It's not his fault that he can't behave. Society's made him go astray. Perhaps, if we're nice, he'll go away."

I'm glad I don't have to be the one to judge him. Some of you will say that I already have, and I disagree. I hate his actions. I'm glad he's out of society and can't destroy anyone elses life. But, I'll let Heavenly Father take care of it.