Part 3: Force

"If God didn't want the leaves to be on the ground, he wouldn't have made them to fall from the tree"

Oh, God, where have we gone wrong? We are teaching that love wins, love conquers all.. and we have no idea what true love is.

Love is the force. Love is the movement. We can't tweak it or mold it to our liking. We have to merge with it. Anything other than following love is a departure from love. It is a whole different force and in contest with true love.

Do not force love.

Artifice.

Part 2 - Space

Freedom is expensive. The desire for freedom is.. all encompassing.

Most people want freedom from oppression, oppression which comes in as many forms as necessary. But at the root of the desire for freedom is what freedom really involves: the ability to live life as you see fit, without recourse.

America was started because a bunch of people wanted freedom. Braveheart's iconic line, "...they may take our lives, but they will never take our freedom!"

We seek the space to learn who we are. And experience who we are. And live who we are.

Space exceeds definition. Who we are exceeds definition. And how we want to live, we want to live it free of definition. Free from judgement and oppression. The freedom to express ourselves fully, without the requirement of getting it right the first time or having our actions be finite.

We are so trapped. Our 'freedoms' are cages. We crave true freedom.

Part 1: Non-constant

Context: modern America.

The desire for constants is.. hairy at best. Looking at the political side of America, most people want someone that is constant. Someone that doesn't have wishy-washy feelings about, potentially, important issues. Most people want someone that can back their position with years of documentation. If a public servant or representative has flippant tenancies, he or she is demonized as indecisive or even being bribed.

I am succumb to supposition.

Most people want fluidity, honestly. How mundane is monotony?
Just not in government.

But what about in relationships? Do we crave a solid, everlasting relationship with people? A never-changing status of positive or negative?

Humans are not meant to be static.

Our relationships are not meant to be static.

There are too many examples in nature that support fluidity, change, adaption, evolution, etc..
Is the concept of an anchor in reality simply a manifestation of fear and worry?

I admit to being fundamentally prone to anxiety. Its is, at times, physically debilitating.
And for what? Fear of losing control? Fear of not knowing what might happen in the future? Fear of taking risks, of failure?

Damn right.

Right or wrong, it is in my core to worry. And I seek to make this change.

Do not tell me what I can and can not do when I rock

I feel the need to clarify that the changes in my life don't reflect negatively on my previous two posts, at least, which dealt with the conception of my son, fathers day and getting married. I am more grateful than ever for my family, immediate and otherwise. My son means the world to me, and I am incredibly proud of him. My marriage is wonderful, I have an amazing woman as my wife.

I was listening tonight to the Bad Christian podcast featuring Michael Gungor. Something was said along the lines of how we should not censor ourselves in effort to seem like we have it all together (they speaking more from positions of leadership). If we are struggling or confused, why do we lose face if we admit, in honesty, the problems we are having? The truth shall set you free, the mask of what others expect you to uphold will enslave you.

_short post_ Placeholder for a changing time / Future of Me

It is nearing almost two years since a post, and I would like to change the expectation level. Much has changed in two years. I have debated, before now, sharing the thoughts and changes but decided not. I am working on solidifying my beliefs and understanding who I am, and may be sharing that journey.

Scheduled for 7AM publishing.

And probably lots of stuff you won't want to hear. And profanity.

Cheers.

Fathers Day

Dad's are awesome. They know everything. They push us to be all that we can be. And they love us.

As we come upon Fathers Day 2013, I have the honor of experiencing the celebration at a more personal level than ever in my life. Heidi has been showing me illustrations of what our baby 'looks like' as we go. It now has legs, arms, eyes, ears, a nose; practically fully formed and growing larger daily. Her belly has been getting larger. It makes my sense of fatherhood take shape, preparing me for the responsibility of raising my child.

I have a tremendous respect for my father, as well as both of my grandfathers and father-in-law. I never fully understood how much influence they have had on me until lately. I find myself saying things like, "Dad would say.." or "I want to exhibit [positive quality] of my grandfather." For a man, a father is invaluable.

I'm forced to remember that while I have and have always had a father, whether I needed him or not, this country is plagued with the fatherless.

This is why you, men, must always be strong. You are always being watched, and are always a role model. The young men in your life need to learn the right way to grow strong and responsible, and you just might be their only influence.

In everything that you do, live righteously and with love.

_short post_ Marriage

I'm reminded of the scene in the Princess Bride where the old priest performs the controversial wedding for Buttercup and Humperdink. Thank God he didn't do my wedding.

I got married a couple weeks ago, June 8th. And I realize all the time that I got one heck of a good lady. She has been my best friend for several years now. We had an awesome small wedding, with amazing cake (someone even said it was the best wedding cake they had ever had), and the decorations were so cool. Most hand made, of course, by her mom and sisters. Hopefully you can see some Facebook pictures of the lights.

We took a trip to the mountains for the honeymoon. That was nice. :)

Now we spend time doing married people stuff, straightening the house and going to work. But there is something so special about starting the day with your best friend. Its so much better than being alone.

_Short Post_ Some things that might be good to remember

Check your supply of milk before buying a lot of cereal.

Don't forget the Twizzlers.
-additionally: Don't rely on one particular snack to meet every craving.
-better: Don't get addicted to Twizzlers, or ice cream.

Dont' forget your toast.

When your socks get soaked just from walking through wet grass, "it's time to get some new f****** shoes" (_Josh_)

Never lose passion and drive for that special thing in your life, for friends and others.

Music can heal. Music can hurt. Music can set 'landmarks'. Thank God for music every day.
-additionally: Choose what you listen to wisely. Support quality music.

Always pay attention to where you came from, where you are, and where you are going.
-additionally: Use common sense.

_Short Post_ Wits All Been Done Before

These are some of the lyrics to the song "Wits All Been Done Before" by Relient K. Quite funny.

"Originality is a ghost town
And it's oh so hard to get to
And when you do
Then people start to hate you
Scream at you, believe, out loud in a crowd people will hate you

"Cause repetition's just so safe
repetition's just like prison
and I prefer to be out of this
cause I'm not really into prison

"Wit! Wits all been done before
Yeah we do something to death
And then we dig it up to do it some more

"Cause we're all getting tired of the media
Cause it tries to hard to make you like something
Cause we're all getting tired of the media
Cause creating something new's just recycling"

_Short Post_ If

Tonight, my mom started talking about all these scenarios in her life and my dad's, that could have been different. "What if.." she would ask. Several concepts would have radically changed their lives, and more dramatically changed mine.

I have often thought about my life in the same way. And I have never really gotten too far down the trail as to get depressed, but I know some have. The facts are clear: the past can not be adjusted. Everything now rests on the choice you make as to where you will go and what you will do NOW as a result of the events of the unchangeable past.

Wake

First came the smoke from the Great Dismal Swamp fire. If you asked Jack Lee (3) why it was on fire, he would respond, "Because it's dismal!"

There was an earthquake. That is all.

Irene (hurricane, for the less informed) came up the east coast on Friday and hung around through Saturday. We saw some of the strongest winds later in the day Saturday, and into Sunday morning. Power outages hit a state-wide record high, as Dominion reported 1.3 Million customers (about 2.5 million people). Where I was, we lost power around 1330 Saturday. I've heard others lost it later in the day, while some in the city never lost power. As the radio host Rick Rumble said, "This was a good dry run, now we know how to use our equipment should a bigger storm come."

We had two trees fall on our property, ironically only one was our tree. As I mentioned on Facebook, Heidi and Evan came to help me clean up part of the mess in anticipation for my dad's truck to be parked in the driveway. As it turns out, he can't get it all the way to the driveway. We had parked the 4-wheeler, along with other various furniture, in a small shed, which we thought was most likely to survive the storm. We now have a claims adjuster scheduled to review the damages done to the shed and its contents. The most frustrating part is that the tree down on the shed is blocking the access to the ravine where we will throw the other limbs and brush. So, until the adjuster comes, we have piles in the yard.

We were fortunate to not have any serious damage. We still have our house, with no leaks or broken windows, and an easy cleanup. News reports 40 dead from Irene, I /think/ 4 were in VA, maybe more? Most of the deaths were as a result of unsafe actions performed after the storm had passed.

I believe it will be a while before we have power restored at home. Current estimates by Dominion and Prince George Electric say 95% of customers will be restored by Friday Sept 2.

Big Fish

Big Fish (Albert Finney, Ewan McGregor, Billy Crudup, 2003) is an imaginative and quirky movie about the art of storytelling; and how “A son tries to learn more about his dying father by reliving stories and myths he told about his life.” (imdb.com) The main character (Ed Bloom) is portrayed in two aspects, one as the older father figure who is dying, the other as the young version of himself, living out the stories he has told his son for years. The relationship between the father and son (Will Bloom) is rough as time goes on, with Will eventually declaring his father to be conceited and constantly hold to the idea that his Ed is hiding the truth surrounding his birth. On a fateful night, the son and father separate and it is said they don’t speak for three years.

The art of the story is presented in this unique film with every memory the father retells. Most of these stories we would call ‘Tall Tales’ – to which Ed replies, “Well, it is hardly a short one...”

As the movie progresses, we see life from the eyes of young Ed Bloom. As a young boy he meets a witch who shows him how he would die, which gives him the courage to overcome obstacles one would otherwise never even attempt. He relies heavily on his faith in his destiny, judging everything around him as a truth to his future, and all worries he regards as fallacies. In his life, he meets and ensemble of strange and unique characters, each with an important role in his life story.

As Will continues to beg for truth from his dying father, who continues to hide it, he begins to investigate the stories personally. This leads him to a deeper understanding of his father and his own life. Ed claims (roughly), “We are both story tellers, we are alike in that way. I tell my stories out loud, and you write them down. But we both tell stories.”

As we near the end, Will realizes how important the relationship was between him and his father, and in the final act, we see him sacrificing his ideals and values for his father's final happiness and rest by telling the only story that had not been told: Ed's death.

I wish you could see the way McGregor displays this brilliance in his eyes of courage as he presses on. We see the way that imagination can make even dull situations a little brighter, and give hope where we see impossibility.

Defiance

I watched the movie Defiance (Daniel Craig, Liev Schriever, 2008)

IT takes place in Belorussia, during the Holocaust. The Bielski brothers, Jewish natives, form a fighting force over time due to the need to survive. Tuvia Bielski (Daniel Craig) states at one point, "We are hunted like animals, but we will not become animals. Our vengeance will be to live."

As they proceeded, they found and provided safety, shelter and food for many Jews. Many missions were performed to retrieve food and weapons from the German army. A camp was created and ultimately abandoned in a retreat to survive an invading attack. This is the part where I started thinking, "God, why does this part of history exist?" So many people were killed. The level of hatred was so unnatural.

This movie does what most every other WWII-related media does not: it resolves with a focus on the positive ending. The Jews survived. They helped save 1200 people. Two of the Bielskis moved to America and started a business. Both lived normal productive lives until they died naturally at an old age. Their efforts, their drive, was successful.

I pray that those personally affected by the Holocaust can find peace. Every moment lived pushing into the future is a healing step.

"Yeah we lost our way but found it.
Yeah we will live to see it out.
Oh hearts may break to make more room:
yeah, but love will find a way to bloom;
love will find a way to bloom;
love will find a way to bloom"

OMG This warranted a blog

Whoa there was an earthquake. In VA. The epicenter being somewhere like 40 miles north-west of Richmond. Everywhere on the east coast you could feel it. Well, as I call it, "selective sensation," since it was felt by everyone *cough*.

Building shook. People got scared. And nobody is dead. We think..

So what could have caused this phenomenon? Theories range from terrorists to global warming to an early 2012 Apocalypse . What ever happened to good old science saying there are no tectonic plates faults located on the east coast? Does this mean we'll start having volcanoes? Oh snap.

I didn't feel diddly. My house still stands. I still have internet and phone connections. And I also have freshly cut grass.

speak

Have you ever noticed that when someone stands to speak, usually If they aren't a regular public speaker, that they start with 1) some scrutiny of their physical appearance 2) troubles they had while in preparation of the items being covered in their speech, and 3) their first reaction to being asked to speak. It goes like this:

--“Good morning. I was on the way in this morning, and this is slightly funny, but I found that my tie was on backwards. So, when [person] asked me to speak, I was [insert emotion]. And while getting things together for this, I encountered [problem].”

It's depreciating of themselves, so that you are not looking forward to something all that great.





On the flip side, we have those over-enthusiastic speakers that don't really write well, they just deliver well. When they speak, it starts like this:

--“Hey everyone! Isn't it a great day? Even if it isn't, we're gonna have a good time. How many of you...”

Those people get you all pumped and then can't follow through. So either way you end up leaving kinda like “huh?”

On the occasion you encounter an awesome speaker, you'll know right away. It works just like music and books: a smooth, enticing introduction, great substance, a slight left-hook, finishing with a closing that leaves you better than before and craving more.

I stick to a concept: people are stronger at some things than others.
In America, we try to round everyone out.

When God made us, he made us versatile but designed for a purpose – NOT to be like everyone else.

Get in coordination with God.
Start paying attention to what He has made you for.
Ask questions.
Focus on being the best of the best.

embuscade

I haven't been writing much lately, haven't been documenting much of anything at all. Since I was about to quit Bonefish I was so stressed out and not interested in taking notes anymore. I had missed about 2 months of church, which was a big promoter of note taking for me.

So lets recap on my last few months of life.

Heidi and I are officially together. Guess that's not too hard to believe.

I quit Bonefish and was hired at Relay Electric. They're out of Suffolk and do work everywhere in Southeast VA. Currently just a 'helper' but will be starting an apprenticeship this coming year. Looking forward to that. I've learned so much already and its only been 2 months. Don't even get me started on how much better it is than Bonefish.. WOW.

Just turned 20. Its pretty awesome.

When I went to renew my license the woman at DMV told me I /really/ needed a new photo. Apparently men change significantly between the ages of 15 and 20.

Just took a trip to Belle Isle again. Every time I go there I'm happy.. It's quite difficult to feel like I spent enough time there. Theres something about the rapids that just ease your mind and body. The waters are cool and the sun is hot.

I think I may have narrowed down on the cause of not writing so much. I'd rather talk about stuff than type. I have thought for a long time to try getting something like the Dragon Speech to Text software. It's a bit expensive though, and that's the only reason I haven't bought it. Not saying I'd write a whole lot more just because I could say it out loud instead of hitting keys, but I would certainly be more direct in my thinking patterns. Probably would mean a whole lot more editing, since I'd ramble on and on..

Currently listening to The House That Fire Built by Mae. So excited to go see them in concert Nov 27 at the NorVa. Been over a year since I last saw them perform. That last concert was in VA Beach. I just recently went back there for Heidi Mirz' wedding. Was doing the video for it. She got married on the beach, in front of the Ocean Beach Club (something like 35th St.)
I absolutely love the beach. That whole day was so beautiful. The weather was amazing. The air felt so refreshing and pure. We did the wedding, went up to the room for a toast, and then to Catch 31 for dinner. Fine-dining seafood, if you're not familiar. Which isn't /too/ bad for me, but Heidi is not a very big proponent for seafood. Luckily they served other stuff, like chicken. I had the Caesar salad with chicken, which was probably the best dressing on a salad I've ever had. Heidi Mirz gave me the second of 2 crab-stuffed flounder cakes. I'm usually not one for crab meat, but this was exceptionally not traditional crabby flavored crab, and the whole package was so tender and moist. The sauce on top was also top-notch, some buttery creamy goodness..

So, to this day, something haunts me about a blog I posted. In the blog I quoted a song by Switchfoot, to which the quote was so terribly not correct and I made no effort to correct it. I can't believe how bad that turned out..
"In this life you're the one place I call home. In this life, you're the feeling I belong. In this life you're the flower and the thorn. You're everything that's fair in love and war"
-Head Over Heels (Switchfoot)

Music maintains a huge role in my life. Not playing as much as I would like, but then again I never have the opportunity to jam with anyone. Ethan and I had tried a few things with MowkyCowskie, which was crazy fun since they are both really talented guitarists. I think Ethan has a creative mind and would love to see him capitalize on those skills.
I myself am not that creative with music. I can wrap it up and flip it down, but when it comes to writing original stuff, that's just not me. More of a producer. I have a natural ability to hear talent. And not much makes me happier than a track or album that's had every bit of effort poured over it until it was as smooth as possible. Some albums would include Mae's The Everglow, Sherwood's Qu, and The Decemberists' The Crane Wife.

I just had the second cup of coffee tonight, and it was the second cup in a long time.

Heidi and I discovered Berry Body, a frozen yogurt shop (which currently only has 3 locations, one in the Governors Green Shopping Center, best known for Rt 5 Farm Fresh in Williamsburg). I've had 2 chances to indulge there, and both times were rather nice. They;re simple - only 3 flavors, and like 20 different toppings, but it's supposedly all natural ingredients and healthy for you. Tastes good.

Going to La Hacienda. Time to get my Mexican on

Belle Isle

Meander your way to South 5th street in Richmond, and follow the signs to Brown Island. Take a right at the T-Intersection, and pass the war memorial. Park just before the main bridge, and walk across the suspension bridge to Belle Isle. This is where Heidi and I spent Monday. One of the best days in a long, long time.

Back in the early 1800's to 1900's, Belle Isle was used for a number of things, including factories used to create tanks and cars, handle raw steel, and even create electricity. Though everything is now either missing, rotten or rusted, the amazing level of history is still in tact. I think the most common use of the island now is leisure activity. There are trails for bike riding or hiking, rapids for kayaks and tubes, and massive, smooth stones creating the riverbed, where one can relax and listen to the water.

I have been to Belle Isle three or four times already, but each time only explored a little of the island. I'm not sure it is still so much an 'island' anymore, but if the definition of island is, as Merriam-Webster defines it, “an isolated group or area,” then Belle Isle is certainly isolated, though no longer surrounded by water. At the head of the isle, the part most upstream, a dam was built to divert water to the south side of the island, where the VEPCO Hydroelectric Power Generating Plant had 3 turbines powered by the water, which in turn powered the trolley system in south Richmond from 1904-1963. In 1963, a hurricane broke part of the dam on the north side, and the flow was restored entirely to the north and has been that way since.

The other two structures left on the isle are a Rolling, Milling and Slitting Manufactory, where scrap iron was forged into nails, wire and horseshoes, famous in the South; and the factory for vehicles. I failed at taking notes on the vehicle factory.

I would definitely suggest reading the RichmondWiki history section.

One thing not well documented is the quarry. The sign posted at the site says prisoners carved giant slabs of rock out of the hill, but eventually hit the river in two places, thus flooding the quarry. It's now a huge pond with turtles and other aquatic animals.

Most of this journey I spent without a shirt and carrying a backpack, which only really provided me with one thing: looking sexy as the sweat made me glisten.

Oh, and while we're at it, one BIG turn off is the smell. So if you have the chance, go after it rains and is high tide, cause it can wreak like septic.

After about three hours of hiking and exploration, we finally made it to the rapids for some relaxation. There was a large party going on on the largest rock, and the alcohol level was so high you could smell it from a long ways off. We found a nice little area that wasn't festering and set up camp. Our area of rapids was rather strong, and provided for an interesting 'swim' as we kept taking turns being swept away. Always be sure you know where to put your butt.

As the sun went down, we quickly realized that you can't very well see the sunset from the isle, as there is a large population of trees on the river side.

Suggestions for you, should you plan a trip:
Ask your mother to make a list of “Things you might need on a swimming/hiking expedition.”
Pack light, or light enough that everyone in your party can carry everything for at least a mile one-way.
Bring lots of fluids. Frozen waters last about 3-4 hours and double as ice packs.
Plan for a long day. Cause you have to walk everywhere you want to go.
Bring anything you might need for the duration, since the closest convenience store is far off.

Mother's Freakin Day

Let me precede this with a note that I love mothers. And don't hate Mother's Day. Just this day, which happens to be from hell.



I am currently on the ferry going to work. I believe the end of this blog will take place after work.

Last night was a long night. I don't usually work more than 5 hours at a time at Bonefish, but last night it was Mother's Day Eve, so everyone and their mom was out eating dinner. I had an ungodly amount of work to do in a short amount of time. And Matt made it so no one could leave til everything was done. I don't mind the hours, and quite honestly don't mind the doing work part, but the making salads part is just not going well. My ticket times were getting high, mostly from the onslaught of orders in such a short time. I used almost everything I had in stock at my station, restocked and used it all again. That's a lot of tickers. Got a Creme Brule to go. I hate crème Brule to go. It came in and Matt said, “Do you know how to make a Cremem Brule to go?” to which I answered yes, and he said, “Good, cause I don't. Make it, and I'll handle these salads” Matt and I are similar, very similar. And he's kinda crazy. Told me last night that his mother dropped him on his head when he was a baby. It was out of a moving vehicle. Actually, it was more like he jumped from a moving vehicle onto his head.

We moved some tables after we closed. Some pretty heavy junk there. Trying to make some more seating for Mother's Day. Opened at 11, I missing the 11 ferry by 2 cars, and it's projected to be the busiest day of the year. Needless to say, I don't look forward to it very much. It's not that I don't like mothers, it's just that I don't want to deal with mothers' lunches being possibly not correct. There are so many ways to honor a woman, and making her food is one of them. But I never get any one-on-one with any customers. I'm so used to making the food, and seeing them, or getting feedback from the people, eating it.

Theres a lot of wind on the boat today. Lately theres been a large amount of sea spray while on the ferry. Today is not exception. I am currently getting pelted with water from the front, even though I am not the first in line. I guess I should be glad I'm not on foot or a bike. Or in a convertible. Or one of those jeeps with no doors.

____________________________________________

So now, over 12 hours later, I am laying in bed and not the least bit of me is in a pain-free state. As Dave said, “We got our asses kicked tonight. Everyone was a zombie at 7:30” and we closed at 9:40. Not only was it the busiest freaking day of the year, I had to stay there from an hour passed open to close. In my opinion, that was a bad move on the part of the management. You see, I was pretty much dead by the time Fonzy got there, and then instead of being my replacement, he just helped for a little bit then went to do something else that Matt had for him. Basically, instead of being like any other Sunday, it was awful. I also tore my thumb nail off, which hurt(s) really bad.
I promised [an unmentionable person] that I would blog about him spilling a ton of chowder on the counter / floor. He tried to pour it from a pan into a big pot, and it wasn't a successful transfer.
We moved those giant tables again. I basically took down and moved the whole dining room bu myself. Then got some help from Jo, Fonzy and Z-dawg on the tables. Even Mommy got involved and moved ONE BAR STOOL. The whole place is kinda creepy when it's empty and almost resembles a dance club. And I'm trusting Dave when he says this only happens once a year..

Birthday

A couple of days ago was Della’s birthday. Last night, we celebrated. So we had this cool cookout / picnic at Midcounty Park, which turned into a rather not fully-cooked fiesta.

In the hours leading up to this, I did quite a few things. I think the first event of the day was getting a shower. Then I went to New Harvest for some soup. Which was actually really good. It tasted sweet, and you added bacon pieces on the top so it was like OMG…….. The events of the afternoon were kinda hot. So obviously a half-priced frap from Starbucks was in order. In celebration for their new “make it how you like” fraps, they are having happy hour (3-5pm) till the 17th I believe. Pick your milk, your flavors, coffee amount, and voila. But just a heads up for all you chai lovers, you’ll need to add an extra pump or two to get the normal taste of chai cream frap. And do a good service to all those in the world that drink chai from Starbucks, and remind them to fully clean their chai pumps every night. It tastes bad otherwise.

I filled up my gas tank today, coming to a total of 19.6 miles per gallon. I was hoping for more, but what can you do? I use Shell gas now, cause I’m a sucker for progress. Not only do I pay out the ear for the same amount of gas, I actually believe that their gas will eventually clean all the gunk from my engine that other gases leave behind. And I also believe it will give me better gas mileage. So until I am proven otherwise, I will probably continue sinking my money in the hole of ill-gotten fuel prices. I suppose there could be another way to get more to the gallon, as one college physics group invented one car that got over 2700 miles to one gallon. I think if we even got a tenth of that awesomeness, we’d be in better shape to demand $10 a gallon.

Ever been to College Creek? I have. Just went there again today. Just take Colonial Parkway from 199, as the route from the Jamestown area is under construction. And as one man said while walking passed where we chose to sit for a bit, “It’s like your own private beach, eh?” Yes, sir. Private indeed. Not only is it within a mile of a federally and locally protected animal reservoir, a high security power facility, and viewable from more than 10 miles down river, it is a highly private location. It has a warning sign that urges you not to swim, as the waters are known to have very strong rip currents and the area is unfit for swimming. But what would anything with ‘college’ in the title be without a significant amount of rule breaking? If you get a chance to go, it’s a nice peaceful place. It’s pretty out-of-the-way, so there aren’t too many people there all the time. I obviously say that based on the two times I have been there and not seen more than fifty people.

So while we are at college creek, I get a call from Jason that he needs me to bring a lighter. Apparently the whole idea of a cookout was planned with the grill, the charcoal, the hamburgers, condiments, buns and no fire-creation utensil. Flint? Two sticks? Pure hydrogen and a car lighter? The sun? ( now you laugh at the idea of the sun being an instrument to lighting a fire, but just take the story Della told us tonight at dinner: A man walked into Starbucks asking for a cup of water. He was very calm and patient, waiting for this cup. When he was given it, he said he was going to use it to put out the fire in the mulch just outside the door. When asked if he threw a cigarette in it to cause said fire, he denied and blamed the sun for being so hot as to ignite the mulch) So in 15 minutes, we arrived on scene and helped ‘light’ the fire. The first time. It went out and we used a very large quantity of lighter fluid to get it working. Our burgers were ‘undercooked’ as everyone was so very quick to point out. Jason said he would never throw another picnic. Poor Jason..

The ending of this night was a viewing of Iron Man 2. I simply can’t understand why it would cost $10 for a movie ticket. I could, in a matter of months, wait and pay that amount to watch the same movie, not fight for lines or seating, and watch it many times over in the comfort of my home, with a pause button, unlimited snacks and drinks, and a private bathroom that I don’t feel awkward taking a dump in. Even still, a theatrical performance is stunning, with the size of the action being larger than life and the sounds coming from all angles, with bass so loud you can feel it in your stomach.

Iron Man 2 takes place immediately after the events of Iron Man, even going the distance to show the footage from the end a second time. It doesn’t take long to get into a lot of action, and good humor. And then some pervy humor. All within a good bounds. Russians, physics, electricity, race cars, bad guys, prison, out of prison, blood toxicity, fake good guys, stupid government, stupid bad guy, drones, The Ex-Wife, new elements, explosions, lasers, kissing, kicking ass, CEO, not CEO, crazy desk objects, dear-old-dad, Expo, and an eye patch. There also is a little segment at the end of the credits, as with the first movie, only this time it takes place in Mexico, and only gives a slight hint at the implied continuation of the story.
There were so many people at the showing that we had to buy tickets early in the day and still couldn’t sit in the same area. Which was fine.

So all in all, Happy Birthday Della

Scum

I thought this one deserved a little place in a blog. So the past few days, the ice cream freezer has been kinda funny at work. It had some melted ice cream in the bottom, and the giant tubs of ice cream were always soft. I thought it might ‘get resolved’ by now, but since it was still nasty last night, I decided to inquire about it. Dennis didn’t even know it was acting up. It had been unplugged for a while, I guessed, and there was melted ice cream in the bottom. The stench was unbelievable. I could barely hold myself from puking right there. Dennis said to clean it out. Ugh.. This thing weighs like 50 lbs and is on 4-inch casters. Bottom heavy, and 3 feet tall by (2 long and 1 wide) – it is not easy to tip over. So with the utmost precision I had to dump out the ungodly scented cream and rinse with hot water using a little bucket. Two rinses later I was able to stand it back up and proceed to wiping it out with water and then sanitizing solution. The smell never went away. I plugged it back in and cracked the lid to let it air out some. I swear if anyone spills something in there I’m gonna kill ‘em..

Oh hey, but the cool thing is that the other night I had a ticket come in for a Special Occasion, which is currently a brownie with Melba sauce, whipped cream, macadamia nuts and a sprig of mint. I made it look all pretty and put it in the window. Shortly after, another one came in and Dave came running around the corner saying, “Yo Sam, that last Special Occasion looked amazing. I’m gonna take a picture of this next one and send it to Dennis” Oh. Yeah.

In other news, I looked into Ubuntu 10.4 LTS this week. Downloaded the image and loaded it onto a laptop to test it. It mostly worked great except for no native wireless support. Which for me is a big deal. The other problem is that, since I was dual-booting with Windows 7, I would switch between the two to get some files on a flashdrive, etc.. but every time I went back into Win7 the touchpad wouldn’t work on first boot. So I had to reboot twice to use the mouse.
I shortly gave up on using Ubuntu and uninstalled. I was then looking at the website to see about downloading 9.10 (the latest stable version) but couldn’t find it. In the process, though, I came across Wubi.exe: a file to install Ubuntu within Windows, so you don’t need an extra partition. That got me thinking, and I put my 10.4 LTS disc back in. Within Windows there was an option to install Ubuntu. So I now have that set up. The problem with the wireless drivers and mouse drivers in Windows are still there. Though I‘ve read about using NDISWrapper in Ubuntu to get the Windows drivers working, I haven’t had any luck yet. I got all the components downloaded and installed, installed the drivers, and rebooted, but it still seems to have trouble. In fact, the Hardware Drivers Manager thing (that manages 3rd party proprietary drivers) still opened up and suggested 2 drivers: a generic, free licensed driver for Broadcom 43xx, and another version that was proprietary. I ended up doing the proprietary one, since it seemed to math the description of the wireless card. I now think that was a bad idea. Even after uninstalling it, it is the only option. The ‘free use’ driver disappeared. And with that NDIS stuff, I loaded two separate drivers and neither seemed to allow connections. Guess I’ll just have to fiddle with it a while.

So as I close here, I’ll say that Facebook’s blog import service sucks. I write a blog, post it on Blogspot at 8AM, and it posts 36 hours later on Facebook. I seriously have started writing my next blog by that time.

Kthnxbye