Devon and Michaela

Blog running while I am in Thailand

2011-09-22T23:46:00.000-07:00

Arrived in Japan. Interesting flight. Sitting waiting for a transfer. Blinds cool, they follow the sun Dow, so it is just below the sun

The "Mighty Wurlitzer"

2008-08-26T21:21:00.000-07:00

Michaela's mom and sister was in town yesterday. We enjoyed time with them, and in the evening we went to the Organ Stop, which has a very impressive Wurlitzer organ. Oh yeah this was impressive. There are only a few theaters that still have one of these, but this was a pizza parlor that you got to eat while he did a recital. It was really neat-o watching the Wurlitzer raise out of the floor and twist around and sound coming from everywhere. A great treat for all who come to visit us (it is in Mesa, so you could visit Bret also).

Update me please

2008-08-26T20:58:00.000-07:00

Wow, where did the time go. Crazy evenings has kept me away for a while.

Updates:
Traffic Ticket: So, they dismissed it. Supposedly they thought the SUV was my car, and I could take a picture of any car to say it wasn't mine. Also, they don't trust the DMV, or the title for that matter. I don't know what they trust besides my drivers licence, which they looked at the picture to determine it wasn't me driving. They didn't even trust me standing there, because I could be a plant. Anyway, I was happy to get off.

Scooter: We bought one. It is a happy little fun ride. We already have over 1000 miles on it. It is fun, but it is also slow. It is a 150cc "Il Bello" Fly Scooter.

New Blog: Michaela Started one. scriptoriumblogorium. It also has Michaela's book in webpage format linked there. She had around 50 visitors reading her book, and lots of people linking to it. Check it out. It took me a long time to get it online.

That's about it. Oh, like everyone else I spent way too much time watching the Olympics.

Transformer Car

2008-05-11T22:24:00.000-07:00

A couple weeks ago we got a ticket from a traffic camera. Does this really look like our car? We own a green Toyota Camary. The licence plate on our car is 579 RLA. So the only thing close is the plates, but the tire obsures the last digit.

Facebook

2008-05-04T18:55:00.001-07:00

Facebook-- I never liked it. Why?? Well having a site that could only be accessed by register users is annoying. Lets face it, Facebook is a form of peer pressure. Any Facebook user realizes a registration is needed for friends to read their updates. If somehow a friend becomes registered, they are locked in and can't change social networks or they loose everything. Finally, a log in every day and staying logged in is important to stay up to date. I am sure ads on Facebook are in impression heaven with this last detail.

So, why am I ranting about this? Well... I joined Facebook . I guess the peer pressure got to me when Michaela started updating Facebook daily. Thoughts like "I'm her husband and I am not in the know*" and wisps of "Where did she find this out" started occurring frequently enough to loose any resistance. I still don't know why she won't write a entry for my blog, but I now know she updates Facebook regularly.

* I think Michaela and I have a good relationship. Of course I am "in the know", but thoughts are crazy like that.

The Geo affair

2008-04-06T18:44:00.000-07:00

Many of you are aware of my blog in October called car poll. Well, there still isn't a new car in my driveway. I am still driving my Geo Prism, and this little car has led to the question; "Why my family loves a good Geo Prism?".

Before we take this question further, maybe a little history is in store. Around 1996, Dondavid Powell, the auto shop teacher at Ricks College, told my dad about getting good deals on wrecked cars to fix up. This idea sounded good to my Dad as a way for his kids to earn money. Well, buying these cars was easy, and we were pretty good at fixing them, but didn't do too well on selling them. Not really a bunch of salesmen. So, me and my brothers would drive them with for sale signs in them trying to get someone to bite.

As we were buying these cars, it became evident that there was a hierarchy to how easy a car was to sell. On the top of the list was Honda and Toyota vehicles. GM and Chrysler which we got were not. The problem was that even broken Honda and Toyota cars were more expensive then we we wanted. Then Dondavid told my Dad a Geo Prism wouldn't cost as much, and they were pretty easy to sell. So, we bought a Geo and the rest is history. In total we have fixed up six Prisms. Two were sold and we kept four for me and my brothers.

It is now 8 years after the last Prism was fixed, and only Kensey has sold his. We now come back to the question of why my family loves them? It might be that we know that we can embarrass kids (or Michaela) when they ride with us. Or, maybe the mechanical refresher courses we get. Maybe the answer is to show how strong we are to not succumb to buying a newer car.

This last week, my car was able to demonstrate all of these traits as I took co-workers to lunch. Normally they try to stay away from my Geo, as they try to show off there own cars. But this time the Geo didn't fail to impress. As we drove down the road, one mentioned it sounded like an airplane, and he liked it because he felt he was going fast. I laughed and all of a sudden a cup holder popped out (the latch broke) and I was able to show my ingenuity by jamming a piece of paper to keep it closed. In the end, they couldn't get out because the door handle was broken, and I had to show them "The Door Handle Knack". Sheesh, you wonder if they really are engineers. And when they got out, they looked so happy to have driven in the car. Maybe they will drive with me again.

Why now is not a good time to own a house

2008-03-09T19:48:00.000-07:00

To ever say "it is not a good time to own a house" is very questionable statement. The statement in this case is just a very generalized hook to get you thinking, and it probably is not true for many homeowners. A matter of fact, only a few home owners would say this is true, but don't chalk our landlord as one of them. If you haven't read the previous post (look down) then you wouldn't know our landlord was having problems. He is having problems with loosing money on his rental unit. Now when he tries to get an increase in rent, the tenant has lots of power, especially one who has a good credit score and the ability to buy a cheap house in a depressed market. Or we can go to one of the many vacant houses for rent on the market.

On a quick related note, I was talking with a source (who asked to be unidentified) who is starting to see an interesting phenomenon around the East Valley. Many people with good credit but owing more than there house is worth are buying in this depressed market and then filing bankruptcy. The expensive house falls into foreclosure while they keep the newer house with the cheaper payments and there is nothing the banks or credit card companies can do. Smart??? I guess.... Dis-honest??? definitely!! You do have to live in the house for seven years, and if you are late on any payments you have no recourse as the bank with attack you for all you are worth. But it is happening.

Ummm we are going to raise your rent..

2008-03-09T19:30:00.000-07:00

Last Monday Michaela called me up at work telling me that our landlord just called, and said his ARM loan was increased and he would be raising our rent. "He said what" was my first reaction, quickly followed by "We just signed a contract in January, there must be something wrong". So, when I got home sure enough he wanted to raise the rate. Now, most people would have gone to there landlord demanding that they have a contract, and they could take legal action on this. Michaela and I had another plan. We called up the landlord telling him a rent increase was out of the question, and we would start looking for a new house immediately and hoped to get out by April/May. Well, that changed his tune and he was telling us we were still under contract. Sheesh.........

Old Computers

2008-02-24T20:41:00.000-08:00

One thing about computers in my family is that we keep them. I think my family keeps old computers with the idea that they were important at one time. Well, I inherited this desire to keep all things computers and pack them.
Michaela is the opposite. She really likes to simplify her life, and old computers should be sent away (dump, recycle, donated, whatever).
So, this last week I gave in and sent two computers away. So, we are back down to ummm 4 computers for the both of us. If only I could find a way to cluster them all together then I could tell Michaela " I can't do family history because you know it needs so much power."

Reunion

2008-02-24T20:40:00.001-08:00

What software do most people use for genealogy? If you are a member to the LDS church, the answer would probably be PAF. That is unless you are a Mac user, then PAF doesn't even register unless y0u are still on classic.
So, what about a mixed computer family like ours? Well, we have been using PAF, but with Michaela taking a Family History class she started testing other programs, and she came up with using Reunion on the Mac. She really likes it, and it seems to do everything that she needs for the class. Of course, me being cheap, asked if it saved enough time to offset the $100 for the program.
Well, she decided to go ahead and get the program. So, I even decided after much deliberation to move my family history there.

Weeds

2008-02-17T17:02:00.000-08:00

So, from about the middle of January until now both Michaela and I have been busy. I am wrapping up my project, which releases Feb 21, while Michaela's semester is in full swing. Yep, we have no time. So, what did we do for Valentine's Day??

Well, we weeded our front yard together. Yep, we had weeds growing everywhere and with the time we set aside for each other it was decided that we should go a weeding. Anyway, it looks better and I sprayed some herbicides to keep them away after. Well, I should of checked the weather forecast, because that night a storm blew though and poured on my freshly sprayed area. Oh well, I will see how well it sticks before putting any more down.

So, not a good date??? Well, Michaela thinks we bonded better by pulling weeds together. Okay, I still took her to dinner, so it wasn't all attacking noxious weeds.

Watermarks

2008-01-26T17:25:00.000-08:00

Recently we were sent some proofs to view. As I looked through them, I couldn't get past the very ugly watermark and my thoughts turned to how easy it would be to take the watermark out. Now, before I go on, photographers want you to buy photos. I understand this, but just look at that watermark. It is huge!!! So, I fired up poor mans Photoshop called Gimp and had at it. Anyway, five hours later I got it cleaned up. It took a lot of touch ups, and I would never say it looks as good as the original, but it can be done.

Multicultural Festival

2008-01-20T22:00:00.000-08:00

After going to the temple, we went to Multicultural Festival in downtown Chandler. It was pretty interesting.
We saw a Ti Kwon Do demonstration with lots of breaking boards. They yelled “Keyaaaaah!” in unison about every 10 seconds or so, and there was somebody’s enormous dog nearby that decided the yelling was a bark, so every time the group Keyaahed, the dog gave a thunderous bark, which sounded nearly the same! “Keyaah!” ARF! ……“Keyaaaah!” ARF! …..“Keyaaaah!” ARF! There was some giggling in the audience about this.
There was a girl in the Ti Kwon Do group that was quite impressive. She had long black hair, olive complexion, an extremely determined expression, and very lithe. She and this other guy did a sword demonstration to some very vigorous music from “Pirates of the Caribbean”, and it was fascinating to watch her wave that blade around in a blur. The sun sparkled off it. I could just imagine the little boys in the audience would probably go home and start practicing the same with their mama’s biggest kitchen knives. The same girl also did a staff-fighting demonstration, and a sparring exhibition. I didn’t like to watch the sparring. It’s all very well to watch people punch the air to atoms and kick their shadows into next week, and break pine boards into kindling, but I’d rather not watch anyone get flipped on their face and stomped into the ground by someone else, thank you.
The group was so disciplined. They kept up the discipline even when off-stage after their show. Every once in a while we’d hear a “Keyaaaah!” in response to their dragon master’s commands and communication, all while the MC on stage was introducing the next group. At that point the Keyah-ing started to seem ridiculous, probably because it was no longer appropriate to be yelling; it sort of distracted from the main focus on the stage. Imagine them going to Disney world together to see the sights. (“Have a magical day!” “Keyaaaah!” The parade goes by. “Keyaaaah!” They go on the Magic Mountain roller coaster. “KeyaaAAAaaAAAah!” They meet Mickey Mouse. “Keyaaaah!” Mickey runs in terror.) But I digress.
Next were some chinese dances, one with colored paper parasols, another with fans with material on them that fluttered in the breeze. It was very cute and feminine and gentle and watching it made me happy. The fans were interesting to watch because they used them all kinds of different ways in their dance. They pretended they were a hat shade, a beard, something to wave with, a flirtation device, and so on. I thought the costumes were a little peculiar, because they showed what appeared to be a Spanish influence. The colors were white, red, and black, their hair was tied back with a red flower behind their right ear, they had dangly things hanging from their shirt, and they wore what looked like gaucho pants.
Next were some Mexican dances done by little girls between the ages of 6 and 15. They seemed to emphasize waving large skirts around and stomping and hopping. There was one boy that did a solo dance, called “The Old Man”. In this dance he walked out hunched over at the waist, supported by a cane, which he waggled in time to the music to depict tottery agedness. Then he seemed to gain strength and do a lot of hopping about, and at the end, he keeled over on his back, as if the old man had died of a heart attack from the excessive exertion of dancing. A very cool touch of humor.
The announcer for those dances kept making jokes about how good-looking he (the announcer) was. He was a middle-aged, slightly pudgy guy, with no particularly distinctive looks, quite average. The first few times those jokes didn’t seem funny, but towards the end it was hilarious. I’m still not sure why.
Then there was Hopi Native American dance, one representing the introduction of the horse to the Indians, and it featured two guys in native regalia, one dancing and the other beating the drum and chanting. The costume of the guy dancing really did make him look like a horse. He had a long, thick, black tail of horse hair popping perkily out of the top of his waistband in back, which swooshed delightfully about, and he had a headdress of black feathers that started at the top of his head and went down his neck to represent a horse mane. He bounced around on alternating feet, shaking a rattle and occasionally waving a stick with feathers fixed to the end, and sometimes gesturing with an ear of corn. He represented the prancing, the galloping, the jumping of the horse, according to the wailing and caterwalling and guttural singing of his buddy beating the drum, “Ale-ale-ale-aa-aa-aa-ale-ale-aaaaaaa-ii-ii-ii-ii-ii-aale”. The guy singing seemed most partial to A and I vowel sounds and L consonant sounds.
After that, the guy who was drumming told the audience that the drum was supposed to symbolize the heart beat of mother earth and of all living things, and to this purpose the beats were even in rhythm and emphasis. He said that Hollywood depicted Indian drum beats differently, with a sort of BUM-bum-bum-bum –BUM-bum-bum-bum” and that if our hearts ever started beating like that we should go see a cardiologist. Much laughter in the land. Excellent to educate the audience and remove misconceptions.
Then they did the hoop dance, which was quite amazing. The guy doing it started by picking up one hoop and put his body through it in the most elastic manner in time to the drumming. Then he picked up the second hoop and made pictures with it and then put his body through and around both of them together. Then he picked up a third hoop and made a globe-like thing with the three hoops. He kept adding hoops and making all kinds of figures – butterfly, bird flying, planet earth with the moon, putting the body through all the hoops and making all kinds of designs, Olympic rings, playing jump-rope, etc. It was acrobatics to music and it was supposed to symbolize how interdependent everything on the earth is. I’d say it was an excellent object lesson for that. No wonder they like these dances and consider them great and important.
The Assyrian dance was a combination between female eastern European styles (lots of stepping and hopping in a line) and Israeli dances. (They probably would hate the comparison to Israeli dance, so don’t tell them I said that.) The last dance they invited the audience to participate and join in the line and a bunch did, including me, but I got my ears blasted out by the speakers when I went in front of them and that was very bad. On the whole, dancing with them was very fun and reminded me of folk dance at BYU.

Reality Distortion Field

2008-01-20T19:27:00.000-08:00

Michaela was hit with RDF (reality distortion field). She needed shock therapy to come out of it, but that is another story.

So, Macworld was last week. And the keynote was Tuesday. And Michaela watched this keynote and was hooked on the Macbook Air. So much that she was sure her next computer would be said computer. As we went out for our annual post-Macworld walk (coincides with the daily walk), I asked her why she wanted this one over the already released notebooks. Well, she came up with lots of good uses for this aluminum jewel, but all of the new uses could be done with her current iBook with a airport card. But she had never expressed an interest in doing ultra-mobile computing before. Well, we went to Frys to look at sub-notebooks, and looked at Macbook Air reviews and finally the RDF wore off. She is now back to just wanting a nice plebeian Macbook.

Okay

2008-01-20T19:23:00.000-08:00

Okay, I use okay a lot. But I feel okay. OK?

Birthday

2008-01-20T19:08:00.000-08:00

Okay, I have now cut off the date for my belated birthday.

I enjoyed a good birthday, and we went to eat at Golden Corral. I guess the days of being young enough to eat at all you can eat steak is gone. I ate about 1.8 plates and a bowl of ice cream before I was floored. The problem now is that it will take the whole year to burn off those 1.8 plates.

First Class

2008-01-06T20:00:00.000-08:00

Okay, so we flew first class. As you can see, Devon's serenity after airport security, and a long vacation.

What 1st class gives:

Legroom and side room.
A dinner (salmon and pasta).
All the drinks you can drink.
Hot roasted cashews, almonds, and pistachios
Did I say leg room and a nice reclining chair.

Let it snow

2008-01-06T19:28:00.001-08:00

"We had a white Christmas. Just like the ones we used to know. With snow drifts plenty and blight, and a cold wind blowing through the night."

*Note: Blight was used on purpose. Michaela didn't follow, but it was suppose to be somewhat negative. In this case a blight shows negative activity by keeping people inside. Like a blight would keep a plant from growing. Okay, hard to follow, but I like the post. Made me feel clever.

Christmas presents

2008-01-06T19:06:00.000-08:00

Michaela and Devon opening presents. Thanks everyone for the gifts.

Devon and Michaela got a lovely blanket, wheat grinder, and a signed copy of " The Gift". Oh, and first class plane tickets lest we forget.

Michaela got scrabble and battleship board games, scarf and hat.

Devon received a scarf, shirt, coat, LooneyTunes DVD and Airwolf DVD.

FYI: Devon is still wondering if Airwolf is as cool as he thought. Anyone wanting to borrow the DVD, or another 80's show "Greatest American Hero" are welcome to. He now has first seasons of both.

Photos

2008-01-06T18:58:00.000-08:00

Well, one thing we did on the trip is take photos. Here is a picture of the Walker family being situated, and I am sure Michaela helped out by taking pictures of the mayhem.

Hat trick

2008-01-06T06:56:00.000-08:00

Michaela was working on making knitted hats for Christmas presents this year. At first she tried using circular needles but got frustrated so she started to knit a pannel and was going to sew two sides together. This was taking a long time, and just before they left Devon found a solution. A knitting rings was being used by a sister he home taught. After finding out about it he explained it to Michaela and after getting the ring two hats were done in two days.

Crazy trip to Christmas

2007-12-23T15:25:00.000-08:00

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

2007-12-09T18:48:00.000-08:00

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

2007-12-09T16:41:00.000-08:00

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

2007-11-04T18:49:00.000-08:00

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

2007-11-04T17:21:00.000-08:00

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

2007-10-21T20:46:00.000-07:00

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

2007-10-17T19:39:00.000-07:00

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

2007-10-14T08:54:00.001-07:00

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

2007-10-14T08:04:00.000-07:00

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

2007-10-13T14:41:00.000-07:00

Can you explain vine ripe tomatoes again

2007-10-07T21:51:00.000-07:00

Millions of Peaches

2007-10-07T21:39:00.000-07:00

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.

2007-10-07T20:46:00.000-07:00

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...

2007-09-30T18:39:00.000-07:00

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

2007-09-16T17:37:00.000-07:00

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

2007-09-16T16:45:00.000-07:00

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

2007-09-09T20:53:00.000-07:00

Canning

2007-09-09T20:08:00.000-07:00

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

2007-08-23T22:04:00.000-07:00

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

2007-06-03T21:13:00.000-07:00

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

2007-06-02T17:08:00.000-07:00

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

2007-05-27T20:48:00.000-07:00

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

2007-05-06T17:28:00.000-07:00

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

2007-04-10T22:13:00.000-07:00

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