Fire up the fryer!!!

I heard about this on Geek Brief today. I did a search and found a recipe. I am going to have to try this!

http://archive.southcoasttoday.com/daily/01-99/01-16-99/a05op025.htm

http://www.recipezaar.com/156010

Baby Names...

A friend sent me this link to a site that has collected Utah baby names over a period of ten years. I can't imagine how stupid some people can be. Why on earth would anyone name their kid some of the names found on this list? Are people really that dumb? I am sure it is cute in the beginning, but how on earth does a kid learn to spell "Vyquetoriya Walkasheaqua" let alone say it?

There are some names on that list that I am sure I would get hit by my mother-in-law if I said them in front of her.

How on earth do you explain to a child how/why they were named "Zestpoole"? Their name is forever going to be questioned by spell-check and anyone with half a brain!!!

See for yourself... http://www.wesclark.com/ubn/

Welcome to Utah, if you can come up with a stupid name, someone in the state is willing to name their kid with it.

Horse with five legs...

Yesterday we were heading up to Willard to pickup some pie cherries for Marni's mom. The road I normally take to the freeway was closed for construction, so I decided to just head up the old highway that parallels the freeway.

As we were driving along I noticed in a field off to the left an obviously male horse. I thought no more of it and did not feel any particular reason to point the horse out to anyone else in the van. A few moments later, Carolyn pipes up and announces that she had just seen a horse with five legs.

I sat there in stunned silence for a few moments until I looked at Marni and we both started laughing. I thought I was going to drive off the road.

Stitches Update

Sammy got his stitches out today!!! We stopped by the doctor's office and nurse Terry took them out. Sammy did very well and only bled a little bit. I had to hold his hands to keep him from knocking the scissors and tweezers out of the Terry's hands. Now Sammy has some tape over the scar to keep things held together while the healing continues. He is going to have one cool scar!!

For his bravery Sammy got a Small Gulp (little brother to the Big Gulp)!

Best Burger Anywhere!

Last week I was in Page, AZ on business. I was looking for someplace to eat for dinner and remembered a really good place just off the main drag.

If you ever find yourself in Page, stop by and have a bite to eat at Slackers. I had the Bacon Burger. Wow!!! I can't begin to describe how incredibly delicious the burger was. It was grilled to perfection and topped with crisp bacon, just the way I like it.

For the cost conscious, you can't go wrong at Slackers. I had the bacon burger, fries, and a drink for $8.75. Compare that to the barely edible rib eye steak I had the night before at one of the local steak joints in Page for which I paid $24.

http://www.slackersrestaurant.com/

Ouch!! That hurts!!

I spent most of the past week at a customer site working on some equipment issues they were having. Finally, Friday morning we had fixed the problems and I was ready to head for home. On my way into town to gas up and head out, I called home to tell the family the good news. I was greeted on the phone by Adam. Adam told me that mom was busy taking care of Sammy.

Sammy had been playing with the kids across the street. He was hiding next to their truck and turned to run...right into the open door of the truck. As you can see from the pictures, Sammy did quite a number on his forehead. Marni finally called me on her way to the doctor to get things sewn up. She called me later to tell me that Sammy had six stitches in his forehead. Later when she took the bandage off, we realized that he really has seven stitches. Poor kid. Now he is going to have a cool scar...Lucky!!

This going out of town thing is dangerous for my family. I was in Rexburg, Idaho one time and Marni called to tell me that Carolyn had fallen back on a chair and hit her head on the table. If I remember right, Carolyn ended up with five staples in the back of her head from that one.

Influence of older siblings

This morning, the girls helped me out by bringing the mail in. Carolyn did her best carrying the ads. She had obviously dropped them a few times and was having trouble keeping them together. She just put them in a nice pile on the table.

A while later, Erin (all of 20 months) was sitting at the table drinking some water while I cleaned off the remnants left behind from breakfast and lunch. I looked over at one point and she had her elbows on the table, her hands to her chin, looking through the WalMart Ad. She was flipping the pages and talking to herself.

As I watched her, she turned to a page with a game console displayed. She mumbled a few words to herself and then clearly said "Xbox." I about laughed myself silly. Obviously she has been listening to her brothers better than I had thought.

A page or two later and she found a picture of a guy working a grill. Erin promptly muttered to herself "Daddy's cooking," and then looked up at me and grinned. It was enough to melt my stubborn heart and contemplate firing up the grill and throwing some steaks on.

Boston Temple

One of my evening trips while in Boston was to attend a session at the Boston Temple with a friend from my days as a missionary in Taiwan.

After the temple session, we went to Chinatown in Boston and ate at the Taiwan Cafe. The food was wonderful and took me back to my days as a missionary.

A long day and the virtues of alcoholic beverages

I arrived home at 4am this morning after one very long day. The day started out innocent enough. I was in Foxboro, MA attending a training class for work. Friday was the last day of class. We finished at 10:30 a.m. I was on the road headed for Providence, RI to catch a flight home. I dropped of my rental car and was in the airport by Noon, hoping to catch an earlier flight home. That is where things went south.

I found out that flights were being canceled and that there were no earlier flights out. I was doomed to sit in the airport until 5:30 p.m. when my flight would leave. Around 4 p.m. I was told that the plane was still stuck in Chicago and that the airport there was closed because of bad weather.

A little while later word came that the plane was in the air and would arrive at 7:30 p.m. We would board and get out of Providence quickly after that. I could never be that lucky! Pretty soon the word came that our flight out would be delayed until 9:55 p.m. Not to worry, my flight out of Chicago was delayed as well and I would have no problem getting my connection to Salt Lake City.

Well, the flight time was still pretty fluid at that point and kept bouncing around so the pilot boarded us at 8:45 p.m., hoping to catch a break and get out earlier. As luck would have it we were able to get off the ground around 9:30 p.m.


Now to back track a moment. While all of this drama was going on, there was a rather obnoxious passenger hanging out at the Mexican Food joint/bar in the terminal. As the flight got more delayed, he would drink more beer and eat more food. I guess the poor idiot doesn't know when to quit and the moron bar tender didn't know when to cut the idiot off.

The idiot got onto the plane, drunk, weaving, slurring, and cussing. Unfortunately for me, he was in the row ahead and to the left of me. After we got off the ground I think his world came crashing down upon him. At one point I looked up and the idiot was puking into one of those little bags that they have in the seat pocket in front of you on a plane and looking for another one. He had puked all over himself. He spent much of the rest of the flight trying to clean his pants and hold down whatever was left in his stomach.

I am not sure if he will remember the night or not, but I am pretty sure the rest of the passengers on the plane will never forget that flight. I hope he remembers the flight though and how stupid he looked with puke all over himself. If nothing else, I have a great example to use when I teach about the Word of Wisdom.

Orange Barrel Killer

Yesterday I had an Orange Construction Barrel commit suicide in front of my van on I-15 in Kaysville. I tried to avoid the collision, but the barrel was bent on destruction by the bumper of my Uplander. The barrel became lodged under my bumper and front tire. I was able to navigate off of the freeway into the emergency lane and construction area. It took some backing up and tugging but I was able to get the mangled, flattened carcass of the barrel out from underneath my van.

I wish I had taken a picture of the barrel. Instead I just have pictures of the damage to my nice new van. I couldn't figure out where the blue paint came from until last night on my way home. I noticed that the barrels have blue paint in the handles on the top of the barrel.

Anong's Thai Cuisine

I am not much of a critic of food, but I thought I would share a bit about my dinner tonight. I followed the advice of a friend and had dinner at Anong's Thai Cuisine in Rawlins, Wyoming. I could not decide what to eat, everything on the menu sounded wonderful. I asked the waitress to surprise me. She brought me Spicy Lamb with Basil Leaves. Wow!!!

Words cannot describe how yummy this dish was. My taste buds are still dancing a jig. The sauce was outstanding and the rice was just like I used to get in Taiwan. There were eight small lamb chops on a bed of onions, green and red peppers, broccoli, carrots, and my favorite...BASIL!!!! If I had not been in a restaurant surrounded by other people, I would have licked the plate clean.

I don't know how often I will get to come to Rawlins, but Anong's is definitely at the top of my list. If you are driving through, I would suggest you take a side trip and have a bite to eat. You will not be disappointed.

Sharing the road

Last week I was working in Wyoming. My co-worker and I got to share the road with this Moose. It was running on the road a head of us. We followed it for quite a while up the road. It finally jumped off the road into the brush. We stopped and I got out and took one last picture.

Surprise!!

Tonight I spoke at a Court of Honor for the Scout Troop that I was Scoutmaster of from 2005 to 2006. When the Ward I was in was split, I moved on with the new Ward and became Scoutmaster of the new troop. I have since been released as Scoutmaster of the new Troop and am now the District Training Chairman and an Assistant District Commissioner.

So, when I arrived at the CoH tonight, I noticed several scouts from the second (most recent ) troop I was Scoutmaster over. I didn't think too much of it. I figured they were there to support me as I was the guest speaker. Just after I had sat down, the scouts from my most recent troop were invited up and they presented me with the Scoutmaster Award of Merit. This is an award applied for by the boys and not the adults. They nominated me and did all of the work for the nomination.





They presented me with a Certificate, a large patch, and the above pictured knot. In a million years I would have never guessed that this was coming. What an honor it was to be their Scoutmaster and to see how well they have progressed and to see what fine young men they have become. I very much appreciate the kind words they said about me.

The Van

The van arrived last Thursday. It does have a slight purple hue to it. I have pretty pleased with what I received. The person who had the van before me added on the Roof Rack as well as the Rear A/C system. These would have had to have been paid for out of his own pocket. I was not willing to pay for these myself on the van I ordered. So, I lucked out.

The down side is that when I received the van, the person who delivered it mentioned that the "Check Engine" light was on. So, I have an appointment to take it in tomorrow morning and have it checked out. If the dealer needs to keep it, I will keep driving the venture until the Uplander is fixed.

A "New" Van

With my new career, I was given a company vehicle. One of the other guys just got a new Chevrolet Impala. Usually when you get a new vehicle, you turn your old one in. Instead of giving it back, he held on to it and I received it when I started.

I am dirving a 2002 Chevrolet Venture Van. It is really nice and has 74000 miles on it. In the month that I have had it, I have grown attached to it. The van drives well and has a good, strong engine. This is quite the step up from my previous vehicle, a 1992 Ford Ranger.

On Christmast eve, I received the paperwork to order a new vehicle. The van I am driving is a temporary, since it has already been replaced. It was kept around so that I would have something to drive.

I was given the choice of four vehicles. A Pontiac G6, Chevy Malibu, Chevy Impala, or a Chevy Uplander mini-van. It was a tough choice, but I chose the Uplander. I have some pretty rugged and remote locations to travel to and want something that will do better in those locations. I couldn't see taking a car to the top of a mountain on a snow packed road.

The only other part I was able to choose was the exterior and interior colors. I sent the paperwork in to my boss for his approval and he passed it on to the folks that order the cars. Now it was time to sit back and wait until the spring when my new van would arrive.

Thursday evening, my boss called and said that he had received word that there was a 2007 Uplander available and the fleet folks were wondering if I would be willing to take it instead of a new one. He didn't know the colors or the mileage. What was I supposed to say? I of course said yes. He sent me a message a bit later with the colors and the mileage.

The van is Light Amethyst (silver) with Gray interior. It has 6740 miles on it so far. It should be delivered on Monday or Tuesday. So much for sitting back and waiting.

Where has the time gone?

I just realized that it has been two months since I last posted. What a slacker!

A lot has happened since my last post. I quit my job and went to work for another company. I am a Systems Service Engineer in the Process Control Industry.

I was reading a friends blog, who is also a former co-worker. He was lamenting the stress that happens for I.T. between semesters where he works. I don't miss those days. The holidays were not ususally a happy time for me. That was when I had to work the most. Everyone else was out enjoying their families and I was stuck getting things ready for the students to come back from their break. I never looked forward to those times.

What I do miss though is the daily interaction with my friends. I am closer to those guys (and gal) in many ways than to my own brother and sister. I guess that came from being around them every day and sharing the daily struggles of life with them. I consider them my best friends.