Bad News for the Car

Got home last night, finished up installing battery cables and battery. It started ok but then I tried to put it in gear to see if it would move. Well, it seems that the clutch needs to be replaced. SO, car repairs are temporarily on hold until a clutch and repairs could be obtained. Seems the car will cost another $700 or so, (with clutch, air/fuel filter, tires, registration, etc.)

Time to figure something else out.

Life is Good...

I can't explain why, maybe it's because I have the next 6 days off work, of course I like work, so that's not it. Maybe it's because we have to put breaks on my car tomorrow and I'm not stressing about the money to do it. We are painting the house this weekend and things seem to be going smoothly there. I have a great life. This week one of my co-workers quit, which was a down point, she was a good person to talk to when that point came for a break in the day and she'll be missed, but life goes on. Other than that life is going well, and I have no complaints. Just thought I'd share that.

Home Repairs and Auto Update

So I get a call 5 minutes before I am to leave work. My wife calls saying that the toilet is backed up and my mother-in-law wants to come get me from work so I can rush home to fix the problem. They tried using the plunger but to no avail.

Because of the timing and construction in the are, I told them I would catch the 1st bus that would drop me off at about 5th South and therefore avoid the construction.

I get home, spend a couple minutes with the plunger, then use my plumbing snake and free up the lodged products and the toilet now works fine. So, with the ride home, and the time on the toilet issue, I'm done about 45 minutes before I normally get home. So, I spent the extra time on the car.

I got all the plugs and wires replaced. I purchased the new battery and battery cables the other day and those will get taken care of today or tomorrow. Saturday, I have a few classes on genealogy but that afternoon, I plan on getting the tires replaced.

I have to drain the gas tank and replace the gas but it should be ready to start up soon so then I can work on the interior. The dashboard needs to be repaired and I got a new car stereo. It's a cheap, $20 AM/FM cassette but with my CD player, I have a tape insert so I can still listen to CDs. So, its coming along. I should be able to have everything cleaned up and put together in a couple weeks so I can get it licensed. I'm way excited.

First Word This Morning

Instead of mumbling that I had to get up to go to work, instead of asking my wife how she slept, instead of saying a prayer that I make it thourgh the day, the first word out of my mouth this morning was Shit! I was going to be late for a meeting this morning, but caught a different bus and made it here on time, so the profanity that escaped my mouth was totally unnecessary.

I said it again when I got to work and my headphone cord got snagged on the railing to the stairs and pulled my MP3 player out of my pocket and cracked the screen. (don't worry Chels, it still works) Well it's time to get to work.

Auto Service

I am in the process of fixing up a 1987 Toyota Celica ST to use as my primary transport between point A and point B. To do this, I have made frequent trips to Checker Auto Parts. They are friendly and knowledgeable but that is not the concern I have.

Since I was fixing up the car, I figured I would do some maintenance to the van as well. I went and purchased new spark plugs, wires, oil, oil filter, fuel filter, and PCV. I went home, opened up the hood and could barely see the plugs and wires. Inside the cabin, there is an access to the engine and you could barely see the other side. Trying to fit a wrench in there to pull the plugs is going to be a nightmare.

So, I figured I'd set that project aside and begin to work on the plugs and wires for the Toyota. I pull one of the wires, but it has a 6" extension on it. In other words, the spark plug is 6" INSIDE THE ENGINE!!!! How stupid were these designers?? That was my first thought anyway. THEN, I realized something. These people were geniuses in relieving money from our wallets. Think about it. If you can't reach something, don't have special tools, or a special computer to "talk" to your car, how can you service it yourself? They make ok money on the parts but make a KILLING on the labor. I'm really beginning to think I went into the wrong field.

3 Days This Week

I am only working 3 days this week. I am going to paint our house on Friday - Wednesday. Well we are only painting Sat, Mon, and Tues, but the other days I have off. We will see if we can get it all done. The house is getting closer and I'm getting excited and scared at the same time. It will be fun! Anyway, back to work, I just wanted to rub in that I'm only working 3 days this week.

Sleeping In

For the past 2 days, the kids have not had to go to school and that means that I get to use the van. That also means that my normal 1 hour ride to work only takes 15 minutes and does not require it to be on a particular schedule. So, I got to sleep in both days.

Yesterday we had our normal Monday morning meeting so I had to be here at 7:30. Today, I decided I wasn't coming in until 8 so I rolled out of bed at 7, had breakfast, warmed up the van, then off to work around 20 to 8. It was a wonderful experience as I was able to give my kids hugs and kisses before I left. I feel more refreshed and alive today.

What a good morning. I can't wait till I get my car fixed up and it is drivable so I can make this a regular occurrence.

Adults Behaving Baddly

As we begin yet another week, I am reminded of some things that have happened in the past, and will probably happen again in the future, where adults, grown people that should know better, behave as poorly as a spoiled, snot-nosed child. They throw temper tantrums, cause destruction in their ranting, and just become a general nuisance to others around them.

I am not talking about anyone that would read this nor am I going to bring up specifics because it could be a lengthy story but we ALL know those type of people. We have all seen the child that, when things don't go his/her way, they kick, scream, hold their breath till they turn blue, hit, kick, push, make messes, and cry until they get their way. For those of us lucky enough to have never witnessed this behavior or its aftermath from an adult, I hope you never have to experience it.

All you can do is hang your head, shaking it from left to right and wonder whether the term "GROW UP" has ever been told to them. How idiotic that there are actually people that do this and we wonder why we do not progress much beyond where we are at currently. Sure, we may have better technology, bigger and faster computers and cars. We may have all kinds of neat gadgets like palm pilots, video games, etc. We have yet done anything to help these poor souls grow up, accept responsibilities for their actions, or keep their personal emotions in check. When we can do that, we will truely begin to progress.

11:50pm Saturday Night

OUCH! I burnt my finger on a stupid light bulb, I know here's your sign. I am actually waiting for the download of the weather like a dummy. It's a four minute video and I've waited bout 10 minutes already. Guess there is more important thing on the network. Anyway, I wanted to see what happend to this "Storm" that was supposed to roll in today. (I learned not to critizie too early, thanks Chels). It was a beautiful day here in the valley, temps in the 50's and hardly anything to complain about. Well not much else to do here tonight, I'm going to bed, I will have to attempt to watch the weather in morning, I love to watch weather men squirm. Espically since Mark Eubank was wearing the "White Coat" last night and tonight he probably had someone else come on and make up some excuse as to the way the jet stream split of the storm is a real slow mover. We'll see what happens tomorrow. Goodnight for now.

Dishwashers and Garbage Disposals

I DID IT!!! I installed a dishwasher and garbage disposal without doing anything requiring a hospital visit. I didn't short out anything, cause a fire, or break anything. I did get a couple of cuts but no project of mine would be complete if I didn't bleed on it at least once.

So, onto the next project. Don't know what it will be, but I'm sure there will be the possibility to go to the hospital.

The House is Coming Along

Arch from family room before drywall.



House from the front



Family Room



Arch after drywall
Pictures of the house

Life is Grand!

I read B's post today and I was going to come in and say something about how much I appreciate my wife and family too. We were supposed to go to St. George this weekend but have decided against it. So we are going to stay here and find fun stuff to do. Time to get to work...it's Friday!

Time of Reflection

Monday marks my 7th year of marriage. What a wonderful thing to celebrate. As I look back over the past 7 years, I see a lot of good and bad times. I see some of the best times of my life. I see times of greatest anxiety in my entire life. I see joy, love, and hope. How wonderful these past 7 years have been and I can't help but to look forward to the wonderful things that will happen in the next year, next 5 years, and beyond.

Tonight we are going out to celebrate. We are not 100% certain on what we are going to do, but whatever it is, we will be together and that is the most important thing to me. To Alythea, who will probably not read this, know that I love you more today than I did yesterday but will love you tomorrow more than I do today.

I hate indecision

So, we were supposed to go to St. George this weekend with my family. I call my mom this morning to find out when we were leaving etc., and she says she's not sure if they are going any more. She doesn't know if she just wants to sit in the condo on Saturday since it's supposed to rain. And then my little sis is being a baby. I can say this here cause she will never read it, and for those of you who know her, Tracy, you will never tell her what I said so I'm ok. Her boyfriend is going to go to a concert in Vegas with some friends and was going to come and spend time in St. George with us and now he's not so she doesn't want to go. She'd rather sit at home and mope while he's gone. Poor Caitlin, Sam has friends and he's doing stuff with them and doesn't spend every second fawning over you. WHAAAAA!!! Get over it.

Well there, I said it and I feel better. Save us gas money if we don't go anyway.

Other than that, today is a pretty good day. I went by the house and it is all sheetrocked in. Pretty cool. You can actually tell what the rooms are going to be like now. It is so awesome. I got pictures but it's up to Tracy to make them available for all to see, so keep bugging him!!!

Slept in this Morning

I actually was woke up at 5'ish because Bree was crying, so I laid there a bit as she cried and then stopped then cried and stopped. Then about 5:30 she was just crying so I got up and got her, gave her to Chels, went to the bathroom and came back in to find Tiaree sleeping in my spot, such a snot. Changed Bree's diaper, gave her to Chels and laid down in her spot, I'm so sneaky, haha. Finally the alarm went off and I got up and was dizzy, so I laid back down and said I'd get up in a couple minutes, 30 mins later, I finally got out of bed and got in the shower to come to work and here I am. Have a good day, I'm going to go make some oatmeal.

House Update...

Well, didn't buy a dishwasher last night but did buy a garbage disposal. I determined which wires under the counter were hot wires and which weren't. When I asked someone before about the best way to tell whether there was power to a wire or not, I was given 2 options. (1) use a volt-meter, and (2) lick your fingers and grab the wires. I decided for option 1 but after much debate since I don't have a volt-meter nor do I know how to use one. So, I took the extra time to borrow one and learn what I needed to do to test the wires. I still wonder if option 2 may have been easier.

So, will buy a dishwasher with all the necessary hoses, wires, etc. to hook up this weekend. Needless to say that will be my entire Saturday. Hopefully my Sunday plans will not involve recovery in the hospital but that's always a possibility.

By the way, my commercial plug for the day is brought to you by the wonderful people at Home Depot. They are very knowledgable, friendly, and helpful. Tell them B sent you and said they would give you a 10% discount for the referral. If they actually give you the 10% discount, tell me which store so I can go there too. (I'll be waiting patiently by the mailbox for my kickback check.)

Ugh...

Today was a busy day... At work I am redoing some programming that I did on an application and as I go over the code, I keep saying to myself how dumb the original programmer was. And since that was me, I just keep my mouth shut. It's funny how you do something one way and after a few months of learning better ways how the old way looks crappy and isn't coded very well. Well the only thing in the IT field is change.

Tripple T

I went to another blog and found a link to this. I thought it was very funny if you like Terry Tate as the Office Linebacker for Reebok.

Hunny-Do lists

So, last night as I was just about to fall into sleep, my wife hits me with, "I want to get a dishwasher tomorrow." This actually means, "I want YOU to go get a dishwasher, parts, supplies, etc. and install it all in the free time you have between the time you get home from work till the time you go to bed AFTER it's done regardless of time."

That's not what she really meant but that's what I heard. (Aly, if you read this, it wasn't me.) So I called her this morning and advised her of the process involved with installation of a new dishwasher including electical work, plumbing work for water supply, and the possibility of getting a garbage disposal as well.

Tonight I get to start on a project that will span a couple of days this week doing something I've never done before. I'm looking forward to the challenge and hope that I can keep from using "colorful expressions" around the kids. So, if there is a blackout in SLC, you know that the electrical work didn't go as well as planned.

Yeah, I know

I know, I know..... I saw the snow this morning and I have to take back my words. Who knew that weathermen could be right :) I'm just glad that it's all melted now. I can handle snow when it melts this fast. The only time I think it should stick around is in December and maybe January. Might as well have cold and snow. Then I think if it's going to snow after January it should be like today and melt really fast.

Anyway.......

Reality Check...

Sitting at the dinner table last night as my kids were getting down from their chairs and putting their dinner plates by the sink, I had a reality check. Chels and I were discussing some stuff for the house and all that jazz when it hit. I have 3 kids, me, 3 kids, I have a beautiful wife, and we are patiently waiting for our house to be built, our house, I don't have to rent anymore. Now when I complain about not having any money, I can say I own a home though. Anyway, I just thought it was funny and had to comment on reality checks.

Oh and Chels, there is snow so put some salt on those words from yesterday's blog.

Decisions, decisions, decisions....

I have a morning ritual here at work. Since I ride the bus, I get in about 10 minutes to 7. I unlock the front door, turn on the light and the copier, check the fax machine and then go into my office. I turn on the lights in my office and my computer then head to the south warehouse and turn on the lights there. Then its off to the break room with my ceramic mug. I fill it with water, put it in the microwave for 2 1/2 minutes. Then, its decision time....

Chocolate mint or raspberry chocolate Stephen's Gourmet Cocoa. Stephen's Gourmet is probably the world's best producer of warm, chocolatey beverages. How wonderful they are. They have a Dulce de Leche Caramel that is probably the BEST ever.

The best part is, it is such a soothing comfort on a cold, snowy day like today. Well, off to enjoy.

The Spot...

I can hear it now, "Tracy, what do you mean by 'The Spot'?". Well it's a little place in my tummy that was hit when I bought a small bag of Gardetto's and ate it. I actually stumbled on a very good combo of snack and drink, like Peanut Butter M&M's and Cherry Coke. Gardetto's Original Recipe and of cource, Dr. Pepper. Try it for yourself today!!

Snow??? Yeah Right!

We aren't going to get any snow. Weathermen have to have the stupidest job! They seem to never be right and then they have to get on t.v. and change the forecast and not look too stupid. Now they are saying that we won't get snow until like 8:00 tonight. We'll see. I doubt it. We might get some more rain but that will probably be all. But who knows?? I might get on tomorrow and have to say "ok, I'm the stupid one". But I doubt that too.

I want spring to come too. That means we can actually move into our house. By the way, another update on the house, as of 10:00 this morning they were starting to put the shingles on. It was fun to watch them with the conveyer belt thing send all the packages of shingles on to the roof. Pretty cool.

Oh and Happy Valentines Day all!!

Company Politics

One of the fun things about working for any company is that there is a variety of personalities. Some are good, others aren't so good.

Generally, I enjoy where I work. There are a total of 8 employees and we have a pretty good diversity of individuals. One of my pet peeves with people here though, is that they are too sensitive. There are several who, when confronted with constructive criticism, they freak out. Literally! You may as well have told them they were ugly and their clothes sucked for as bad or a reaction you get for small things.

I just wish people would grow up a bit and learn that to accept that they aren't perfect. Everyone just needs to grow up.

Beginning Another Week

Monday has come. I'm not a hater of Mondays, Monday is actually a pretty good day for me. I get to work, there is always that stuff to do that I didn't finish on Friday and the day goes by pretty quick. So I welcome Monday with a smile and push forward.

Today they are saying we are going to get anywhere from 2-4 or 3-5 inches of snow on the valley floor, depending on what news cast your listening too. I've even heard 4-6 on one news cast. I just want spring to come so that we can have warmer weather, but it doesn't look like that's going to happen. Plus more snow just makes it that much harder to get my house finished. By the way, the house is growing quick, we have windows, bathtubs, and a furnace. It is really cool!

Have a great day!

Driving sucks

I hate driving. I really do. I am so tired of driving for an hour every stinking day. I am sooooo glad that it's almost over and that we will soon be close to the things that I drive to. It's going to be great.
Anyway I'm exhausted today. I wish I could just curl up in a ball and go to sleep for the rest of the day. But alas I have to be a mom and I have 3 kids who are no where near ready for naps so I will just zombie my way through the next few hours until maybe, just maybe, I can get them to sleep!!

Friday Has Come

Friday, wahoooo... Today is a great day. I love knowing that tonight when I go to bed I get to turn my alarm off and sleep in as long as my kids let me. They are so cute, until they decide to wake me up before 8 on the weekends.

Todays breakfast: Chocolate donuts and Dr. Pepper

Thought of the week
When you build it...you can probably live in it...if it's big enough that is.

Today of all days...

I am so sick of winter. It just needs to be over and done with. I don't mind it being dark more than it is light. What I do mind is the COLD. How stupid do we have to be to be nice and comfy in a warm bed and decide, "Hey, I want to freeze so I'll get up and get out of bed today."

I'm telling ya, the bears have the greatest life. They eat what they want, play anytime they want to, and sleep all winter long in a nice warm cave. They also have a cornered market on the best diet plan. You would loose a lot of weight if you didn't eat for 4-5 months at a time. Not to mention that they don't hang out with a lot of other bears for very long so you don't have to deal with all the other idiots and their stupid comments and opinions.

Rough Morning...whew!

Woken by my pager at 5:45 this morning, for something that I shouldn't have been woken up for doesn't make me too happy. So I went back to bed about 6:00 to get a quick nap in before my alarm went off, laid there wide awake thinking to myself, "I should get up", but just stayed in the warm covers and nice soft bed. The alarm went off, I turned it down a little not to wake the kids and fell asleep, proabably the best sleep I'd had all night. Woke up at 7:05 and missed the bus, what a crapper. Finally got to work about an hour later than normal, mentioned to the person that didn't warn me about the pages, since they knew they would go out, and started to make the rounds of helping people. Loads of fun, now the day is clear, and I'm going to try and take advantage of it.

Newest Member

Well here I am. Getting sucked into the world of blogging. I figure it will be a nice release of stress when the kids are driving me crazy. So anyway..... I should probably go find something productive to do, like cleaning the playroom/computer room so Tracy can use it tonight for his little tutorial.

I Was Reminded

Thank you Harold for reminding to update my 3 readers on the outcome of the racquetball games we played last night. Let's just say it wasn't exactly how I thought it would turn out. We played one-on-one until Jerry joined us. The first game it was close something like 15 to 6, ok, so it wasn't that close, but I did jump out to a quick 2-0 lead at the beginning of the game, then Harold got to serve. The next game I was ahead most of the game and Harold had taken a one point lead as Jerry walked in, which in turn led to me losing again, 8-7. Sucks aye. Then in the game we were playing that I had to take off before we were finished, Jerry and I were really close and we were killing Harold, like we were both in double digits before he even scored. Then I had to take off and I guess Harold came back and won. Remember though, next time the score starts at 0-0 and we will see what happens then...

Microsucks Updates

I came in this morning and found that I had a ton of updates that were ready to be downloaded and installed. I think that Microsoft is trying to take over the world on Windows update at a time. So I'm sitting here at work waiting for my updates to install so that I can reboot my machine so that the "Updates will take affect". How dumb. In a world of computers you would think there would be an easier way.

Riding the Bus

Another wonderful morning on the bus. Got up at my usual 2 hours before I have to be at work to get ready and get to the bus on time. Not to mention that not only do I have 1 bus to catch, but 2. My commute time is between 1 and 1-1/4 hours and my commute distance, 7.5 miles. That's an average of 5-7 miles per hour!!!

PLUS, you never know who you will sit next to on the bus. Sure there are plenty of good people that ride the bus but occasionally you get the person that has been estranged from a bar of soap for years. OR you get the people that just assume you want them to sit next to you and decide to just sit down with out saying a word or giving you much opportunity to move your stuff from under their butt before they sit down.

Anyway, enough of the rant and rave. Guess if I'm not going to put up the funds to get and maintain a vehicle, I don't have a lot of room to complain.

Super Big Gulps

I just wanted to say as I come to the end of my Super Big Gulp, that they rock. Sometimes you want a little to drink and a can fits that pit in the stomach pretty well. Sometimes you need to fill that pit with more...mind you, it's not even half as big as Neal's Big-Ass mug, the 100oz'er.

Sick Kids

We currently have 12 people in our home. Of those 12 people, 8 are kids ranging in age from 4 months to 11 years. One of the problems with living in such a large group is that when one person gets sick, they ALL get sick. This holds true if there are only 2 kids in the home also. Since it is winter, the common cold is going around our home.

Along with colds comes the need to medicate children (which could be good common practice in general anyway.) The night time ritual started this week has been to get the kids in pj's, rub Vicks on their chest/neck area and give them a shot of cough medicine.

Another problem associated with that many kids is that it is difficult to get them to sleep at night. Too many people moving around, too many cousins to play with, etc. With our new bedtime cold-remedy ritual, it really doesn't take them long to fall asleep. The wonders of cold medicine.

Makes one wonder of permanancy of such a ritual.
(BTW, the name brand pushing is Tracy's fault. If he wouldn't have started it, I wouldn't feel obligated to give credit. Hopefully they will pay us for the advertising.)

The Great Game of Racquetball

Today is Tuesday, and on Tuesday, I try and go play rqtball with my friends. Tonight, I'm headed out to play for a little bit and I've decided that tonight I'm going to win. When I play with my friends it's a lot of fun because it really doesn't matter if I win or lose, it doesn't even matter how I play the game. As long as I don't hit anyone with the ball or my racket or get hit by the ball or someone else's racket and I've had a good laugh, then I've had a good time. So Neal or Harold or Jerry, if you are reading this prepare to be beat at rqtball tonight, hahahahaha.

Ribs and Wings

What a great lunch, leftover ribs and buffalo wings from Applebee's. It was great.

My mind has been traveling today, work has been difficult, and I think I know why. Life! Yes, life. What is that life brings to people...whatever they want to get from it. My life is going pretty smoothly right now, knock on wood, which I am very thankful for. I have a wife, 3 kids, a house being built and an awesome job. What more could anyone ask for. I'm living part of the American Dream. There are still parts I am working on until the dream is 100% fullfilled, but for now, it is really close. Anyway, I am in a very thoughtfull mood today, so there may be more posts throughout the day. At least I know my mind is working, haha.

Weekend Disappointments

This weekend turned out to be fairly well. Minus the Super Bowl, and the Eagles losing, everything turned out ok. The anticipated enjoyment from the SB commercials was quite disappointing. Don't get me wrong there were a couple good ones, but as for the majority, they sucked. The whole Mustang commercial was pretty good the first time it played, but by the 5th time, it was old. Just goes to show that rednecks drive Ford's, me included. Who would really take a convertible out on a drive with the top down durnin the middle of winter when it's that cold. I've seen people do it, but...hello! Anyway, in case you missed it, the new Ford Mustang comes out in the spring.

Smells-A-Plenty

I just made me a bowl of Pop Secret Homestyle popcorn, yummy. As I went in there I had to clean out the bowl that I dump the hot fresh popcorn in and the dish soap they have in the break room is Palmolive. I don't know why but the smell of it brings back memories of my childhood, which is weird, because I never did the dishes as a kid and we use Dawn Antibachterial at my house now. It's just weird. I just think it's funny how the sense of smell can be so powerful. Like fresh popped popcorn smells so good and it floats through the office that I can guarntee that because of the smell, there will be more popcorn made today. Besides it's Friday afternoon, I've been working on a new calendar tool for one of the apps that I manage and I need a snack. Pop-Pop-Pop, ummmmmm popcorn and DP.

The Time Has Come

It's Friday, finally. This has been a good week, but I am sure glad it's Friday. This weekends forecast looks to be mostly sunny, in terms of what is going on. The weather is going to be pitiful.

Today I'm going to start a new thing, and hopefully it will go over well...

The Thought of the Week:

Grownups are sometimes childish...
(Reference)

More inspiration from Hobbes...

Once again, Hobbes has been the inspiration to one of my ideas...

Here are a picture of my kids, those of you who know me, already know that, but for those who don't...aren't they cute!


The kiddies... 

Ummmm.......Lunchtime

My normal lunch routine is eat, read ESPN and the Trib, then just go back to work. Today, however, I've added the all important task of writing in the blog. Nothing important going on in life, minus the fact that my house that is being built, looks like a house, just a naked house. One of these days I'll get pictures set up so that I can add a few.



Time to drink the Super Big Gulp of DP and move forward in my learning of the all impresive CSS.

Laters...

Days Go As They Must....

What a day yesterday was. Today should be better. My brain just went blank and so, I'll post something else later when my brain decides to wake up.

The cups aren't safe

I have to say, I was inspired by Hobbes (read his blog here) to start this blog. Now, I don't claim to be as cool as Hobbes, but he gave me a good idea.

The cups aren't safe, coming into work this morning I remembered that I had a cup that I was soaking with hot soapy water yesterday to clean the dried oatmeal from Friday's breakfast. When I went in to take care of the cup this morning it had sprouted legs and ran off. It's amazing how grown people can find something so interesting as a cup with soapy, oatmealy water so interesting that they are willing to take it. Oh well...such is life.