Crazy trip to Christmas

So, some might know the plight of our trip to Illinois, but many do not so here is a rundown.

Michaela and I had plans to go visit her family this Christmas, starting early December 17th. So, that Monday we got up at 4:00 to catch the super shuttle to the airport. Well, Michaela felt sick, really sick. She couldn't stand up and was really hurting. She hurt so much she fainted. After reviving her, she started to puke and then the super shuttle guy comes to the door. "Alright," I thought, "no way are we going", so I sent him away. After he leaves, Michaela starts to feel better. So, I am like, "Do you feel good enough to go?" and she says "yes" so I call a taxi (yea, we could have driven, but I didn't know where the lots are). So the cab comes and we are off. As we get close to the airport, Michaela starts to throw up and we decide to go home.

Now we are at home, Michaela is really sick, and there is no way we can catch our flight. I am sure there is no way we are going now, so Michaela goes to bed and I start damage control. First I call the airport and airlines. Can I say they are really hard to get on the phone and harder to get information from. As I worked with the airlines, not knowing when Michaela would feel better, I could only get a credit for the flight and re-booking a flight was too pricey. So, I call my parents to see what they are doing and they are staying home and say we could visit them. Finally I call Michaela's parents and tell her younger brother Nelson that we wouldn't make it.

With all the damage control done, Michaela fast asleep, and nothing to do I decide to get some stuff done at work. So I go to work and call around 11:00 and her line is busy. Of course her parents or my parents have called her because I told them she was ill. Anyway she calls me about 5 minutes later as chipper as can be. She says that her parents wanted us to go, and they would get us tickets. So, because of blessings of families we were able to go to Illinois.

Merry Christmas

Ah, that time of the season. I think we get a frosted fake tree because it makes it feel cold, even though it is still 60 outside right now. Anyway, happy holidays! Michaela and I are going to Illinois in a week, and hopefully we can update you there.

bear

Okay, as a scout I bought a lot of whittle kits to whittle everything from eagle neckerchief slide to candlesticks. I never finished and decided that I hate whittling. Anyway, we worked on whittling a bear from a bar of soap, and I was able to make a passable bear (not a good picture). Anyway, I am prou.... um pleased that I have finally whittled something that looks like what I thought it should.

car shopping

Yesterday we went car shopping, and looked at some cars.

The first car we tested yesterday was a Ford Fusion. When we got in, the first thing that was noticed was the gas gauge at Empty. Yep, the gas prices are hitting the car dealers also. As we drove, the computer went from 4 miles left to 1 mile left on that tank of gas. Yeah, even though it would be funny to run the car out of gas I didn't want to wait to get rescued so we only had a 3 mile test drive.

Another car that we test drove was the Mazda 3. I really thought it was the nicest car we drove. While driving, I looked over and saw that the "airbag off" light. So after looking for the cause, it was found that Michaela is too light to trip the sensor, and the car thought she was a child. Michaela claims she is over the air bag weight limit.

We also drove a Chevy Malibu. It was a nice car, but had a rattle. Some may know that this was not the first Malibu that we test drove. Four years ago we took a new one for a test drive, and it had the same rattle. The two cars looked very similar, so maybe they were the same. They do look kind of the same.... huh

Anyway, while Michaela was driving the Malibu, I changed the computer to metric and her speedometer shot up from 65 to over 100. "What..What happened?", as Michaela quickly slows and cars start quickly passing her on the Freeway. I guess 65 Km/H is not the same as 65 MPH. Strange..... Anyway, when we returned the car we left it in metric as to help eliminate speeders. Now the city doesn't have to spend more money on traffic cameras and sending cops out to give citations to people speeding.

Car poll results

Yea, the poll finished, and I am taking down the poll. Thanks for all 33 votes. So here are results to be immortalized.

Fix the air conditioning: 12 (36%)
Get the real Arizonia experience: 7 (21%)
Buy a new new car: 4 (12%)
Buy a used car: 10 (30%)

Also, thanks for the comments you left. Michaela and I are looking for a used car; we think the Geo is on its last legs. We might still fix the car, but after owning the car for 8 years it might be time to let it go. Michaela also looks forward to the day that she can drive my car without a broken spring poking her in the back.

Car Poll

So, about a week ago I was heading home and I started smelling something burning in my Prism. In inspecting the engine compartment, I noticed that the smell was coming from the belts, and my AC compressor was gone. I finished going home without the AC on (clutch works) and I have been driving without AC since. Now this will work until summer, but it will not work for the whole year. So what do you think. Should I throw in the towel and be the second to leave the Prism world? Vote in the side bar ->

Christmas List

Can you believe that people are starting to think about Christmas. It is like not even November. Anyway, here is the beginning of a Christmas list, for you early shoppers out there.

1. Wheat Grinder
2. PG Wodehouse books
3. Hugh Nibley books (we have Mormonism and early Christianity)
4. John Schmidt Christmas music
5. USB Rocket Launcher

Life Mosaic

Michaela loves to take pictures. During the last few years we have attended weddings, had visits from friends, and had multiple fun family reunions. In addition, we have taken pictures from many vacation trips. These things are part of what we are. See if you are there.

Update: click on the picture, and the full size one will fill your browser.

iPod & iPhone

So, I was in the Apple store yesterday, looking for a Macbook for Michaela. Yea, a Christmas present (so don't tell her). Okay, maybe an early one, as she would really like something new from school. Ummm... alright maybe it was just an excuse to go in, as I am waiting for the next operating system to come out. Anyway, while there I thought I would look at the new iPod touch, and see how it looked.

Well, it is okay looking, and web pages were for the most part visible. It pulled them up quickly, on the store's wifi and navigation was easy with pinching and scrolling with a finger. The flipping sideways worked great on the iPod, which is good because other electronic devices the tilt and direction sensing are usually kludgy. What was annoying was the on-screen keyboard. First, I tried with two thumbs, like previous devices I had with thumb boards. This gave awful accuracy. So, I went "hunt and peck" with my index finger, and it improved but was slow. So, it wouldn't be something I would write on a lot on. Which is good, because I was going to post in this blog "Written by an iPhone" or iPod, but the onscreen keyboard would not come up when I clicked in any of the fields to post. And Gmail, forget about it. So, is it going to enter my Christmas list? No I have my eyes on the versatile and larger N810 right now.

Oh yea, I looked at both the iPod and iPhone. The iPhone keyboard worked better, and the screen was clearer. The only thing the iPod did better was keep fingerprints from showing.

iPod touch

Can you explain vine ripe tomatoes again

Millions of Peaches

To follow up from the canning entry, we have a picture of peaches. Michaela really likes to look at them, and tells me how beautiful they are. She said it will be the last thing we eat, because they look so nice. Well, they are nice because every one of them sealed.

Michaela comments, next step is a post.

So last week's entry was commented on by Michaela. So she has added information! Yea!!!! Read it for a different viewpoint on keeping in touch with friends by blogging. Hopefully Michaela will soon post an article, but her comments are always welcomed.

Does blogging help keep friends...

How many friends does the average person keep in touch with as they move away? Most? Maybe one or two? Many? None? In my case it is few. One I keep in touch with is a fourth grade friend. We don't talk often. I keep in contact with him via IM, reading his blog, and receiving the rare email.

Keeping up with friends made on a mission can be hard once you leave. On a mission some of the strongest friendships are developed, either as a companionship struggling to find people or helping your investigator learn how to listen to the spirit and become baptized. As time goes on, I have lost contact with most of the people I met in England. But a year ago I was able to start one up again after I noticed a posting on the mission electronic board from the daughter of a family I taught. After seeing this, I communicated and finally met up with her and her sister at BYU. During the visit I found out what was happening and that they have been good active members of the church.

What do these two situations have in common? Well they both show that a willingness to write stuff online allows people to stay in touch. In the first example, Ryan, my friend since fourth grade, has a blog in which I found out his wife is going to BYU. They had a vacation in Hawaii and a small one at Bear Lake. This blog information encourages me to want to keep in touch better than if I didn't know what was going on. I'm even thinking of asking if he had a raspberry milkshake because Bear Lake is famous for them.

Contrast these examples with a friend from BYU, which I saw in the temple a couple of months ago. After catching up and finding out that he teaches in a local high school, we left with neither of us asking for any contact information. I knew that through the years of non-contact we had moved on, and it would be difficult to start that friendship over.

So, I am proposing that blogging helps keep friendships despite being many miles away. What do you think? And if you are an old friend, I would really like to hear from you!!

P.S. If you are an old friend and have a blog, a link would be nice. I will throw a link and comment where I can.

Muslin Bag

It is very interesting in the way things have changed over the years. I recently read Giles Slade's book Made to Break , in which he chronicles the idea of "planned obsolescence". This is where products are made to be thrown away (paper products, personal hygiene products, containers, etc.), fashions are made to become obsolete (new patterns or styles), and/or gizmos are made to become technologically obsolete (electronic goods... computers). Historically this has led to times of great prosperity as workers are outputting as much product as possible. The roaring 20s and the modern booms are prime examples. The only large kink in this growth was during the "Great Depression" when these ideas quickly slowed and reversed as nobody had money to buy new products and used products until they were really worn out.

Recently, Michaela was given a Muslin Bag that an elderly couple picked up for us while they were in Vermont. A Muslin Bag is based on the idea of using every bit of a product, in this case soap, and not throw any of it out. These bags are thin fabric bags that you put your old soap scraps in. The Tussie Mussies bag that we were given was filled with different types of broken up soaps, oats and fragrances. It has a draw sting on the top to put your worn out soap into. Now, some wiseguy will think the soaps put into the bag were someone else's used soap, but this would not be the case. It looks like these were soap scraps broken in the factory or seconds during manufacturing.

Increased content

When I started this Blog, I thought it would be a good place for Michaela and myself to post quick posts. At the time it didn't seem like Michaela was too interested, but I am slowly working her down and hopefully soon she will be willing to grace us with her wisdom and wit. If you want to give Michaela encouragement to join this blog, please comment down below. Also, I want to reassure everyone it will not become a Michaela-only blog.

Anyone can post comments

Canning

Well, I have a Microchip project that just came out that is causing me to work 10+ hour days, and Michaela is in school and working taking all of her free time and what do we decide to do... we decide to can peaches. A lady in our ward had a box ship down for $24. The question is when will we get time to can.

This box is what we have left after eating peaches and eating and um eating. We also made jam, a bunch of smoothies, fruit salads and did I mention eating. They are yummy... but we can't tell what we will get tired of first, peaches or hearing "Millions of peaches". Hopefully this winter they will come from a..... bottle.

busy

Well Michaela and I have been real busy for a while, so I have not posted. But, Jolyn sent me an email about her blog, and I read it an decided to quickly post. And then I checked Chod's Blog and realized that he tagged me. Okay, here the tag goes.

4 Jobs held:
1. Test Engineer Motorola
2. Parts Boy at BYU cage (Jr tech)
3. Electronic Assemble for starting line
4. Parts Boy for Tractor sales and auto

Movies I can watch over and over:
1. Star Wars (3-6 or I like to think the only ones)
2. Condorman
3. Princess Bride
4. The Happiest Millionaire (but not all at once)

Places lived:
1. Rigby ID
2. Austin TX
3. Chandler AZ
4. Provo UT

TV Shows:
1. Stargate SG1
2. Hogans Heroes
3. Twilight Zone classic
4. Star Trek (1.TNG 2.Origional 3. DS9)

Places on Vacation:
1. Chicago and northern Illinois
2. Southern California
3. Sanabell Island Florida
4. South Padre Texas

Favourite Foods:
1. Maple Frosted Donuts
2. Chicken Parm (but not all)
3. Galaxy Bar (They say it is Dove bars in US..... but whatever)
4. Hobb Nobs

Websites I Visit:
1. USA Today (yea, I like quick water down news)
2. The Inq
3. Ars Technica
4. OS News (They might all really want BE and Amiga to win, but they are fun to read.)

Places I'd rather be:
North West Canada
Sanabell Island
Anywhere that is cooler than AZ

All my blog buddies are used up.

Anonymous posting allowed

Okay, I was told I would get more posts if I allowed anonymous posting. I didn't even know it was turned off. So I turned it on.

Wedding Anniversary

Just got back from going camping for our wedding anniversary. Michaela claimed it was very romantic, but it was just a camping trip in my book. We went up past Payson to a campground called Rock Crossing. It was nice campground, and the temperature was cool!!! Anyway we came home smelling like fire (no fire advisory there), and dust. I almost felt as sticky as when I came back from week horse rides with my Father. We have pictures, and so I will look into posting them soon.

Apache Trail

A month ago we went for the steamboat ride at Canyon Lake. As we were traveling up there, we noticed the road was interesting with many sites to see. So, we picked up a pamphlet on Apache Trail and on May 26 we went exploring.

Superstition Mountain:


Where the lost Dutchman goldmine is. Some Native American Indians thought this was a sacred place. Looks neat.







Where do you want to go today?







We saw, we came, we conquered!!!






And did cliff diving??? Into what?













Devon pretending to be a cactus, and Michaela gets confused.











Tortilla Flat

Founded: Sometime between 1880 and 1904
Population: 6
Notable fact: smallest community with own zip code.

When building Roosevelt Dam, many foreign workers came and tipped in foreign currency. Because they couldn't spend it the workers name would be put on the currency as a status of shame. Instead it became popular, and over the years the wall has been lined with the donors national currency and name.

Roosevelt Dam


Originally built in 1907-1911 this bridge was to tame the Salt River and give water to Phoenix. The original dam stood until 1997 when it was decided to increase the reservoir and was remodeled. Before remodeling, Roosevelt Dam was the largest masonry dam in the world. Workers would cut stones from around the area to build the dam. You may notice the red rock buildings which were built the same time out of the same rock. After the reconstruction, cement was used, and not much is left to remember the old dam.

While the dam was being remodeled, they built a bridge to divert traffic. The sign claims the bridge is one of the most impressive bridges in the US. It is impressive, but most....





Tonto National Monument
Cliff Dwellers
These native Americas called the Salo Indians lived along the Salt River during the 13 and 14th Century. Why the left nobody knows but speculation is Apache drove them out, the land became unusable because of high salt content, or because of drought which happened/happens frequently. Salo is translated to Salt (Sal) Indians because they lived next to the Salt River (Rio Salo??).

These cliff dwellings are high above he valley floor below. These people probably used them for shelter and a refuge from warring tribe. They spread them throughout the mountains round about.








Along with irrigation, Salo Indians were known from pottery. Archaeologists have found pottery made by these Indians throughout western United States and though Mexico. They also found shells from California, and Pueblo Indian goods in these caves.

Adoption papers

This week Michaela and myself went to see Larry at LDS social services. We had already sent papers in with a bishops endorsement and stuff, and he handed us a folder of about 90 pages to fill out. These are papers needed for the courts. It asks us to write a half paper on our childhood, memories that we had with our siblings, and stuff like that. And all this needs to to be done in third person. Good thing I have practiced on the stylus.

He also gave us a CD, with soft copies of all the documents. He said we can fill all of this out on computer if we want. I guess they knew that my handwriting would confuse a judge, and he would never want to talk with us. Also, we are going to need to get finger printed. Good thing I never did any crimes.

Finally, if you want to know why I write in third person on the stylus is so Michaela can put her two cents in it also. I usually do most of it, but she will add stuff. This way it is a family thing. Michaela is such a good sport. She even let me send in stuff that I felt bad putting in there and got a retraction. Thanks Nikkala.

-Devon

First Blog entry

Okay everybody, Michaela and myself are going to have a blog in which we hope to have one place in which news about what we are doing. We will have an update every month, so come back at least monthly.

Devon