Lies of a Toddler

"I didn't put soap in my bum."

This is my favorite of "Dad! I didn't ..." BeeBoo has been doing this lately and at times it's hard to keep a straight face. I busted up with this one.

Run like a hunter

This article is pretty cool. http://lifehacker.com/5390921/run-like-a-hunter-for-injury+free-workouts

I've always thought it would be cool to run like a deer through the woods up and down hills. Something about zigzagging through the trees and creating your own breeze makes me smile inside.

I like the case for running barefoot. Turns out that shoes make us run differently and that can cause more injuries. When I grow up and have a house (which will include some land, I hope) I want to run around barefoot. Being in school and in an apartment has restricted my barefootedness.

In the New York Times article that is the main source quotes Dr. Lieberman, “Your butt is a running muscle; you barely use it when you walk.” There you go.

Flu shots anyone?

http://science.slashdot.org/story/09/10/04/1344259/Seasonal-Flu-Shots-Double-Risk-of-Getting-Swine-Flu-Says-New-Study?from=rss

It's needs peer review, but I believe it. Most because I always get sick after a flu shot and it's a 50/50 chance I get sick without one.

Burnt Bread and Hummingbirds

On Thursdays, Emily leaves me to my own devices for dinner as she cooks just about every other day. Last Thursday I decided to make spaghetti with salad and garlic bread. Something I've made many times before. The only problem was that it didn't go as well as all those times before. I was holding my boy while I was cooking and he was starting to get hungry. The spaghetti was done cooking so I went to strain it out with our neat Revere pot that has straining slots in the lid. I didn't hold the lid tight enough so all the spaghetti dumped out into the sink and down the disposal. I guess I was trying to do too many things at once. The garlic bread was an even better adventure. I was going to use the rest of some french bread, but it was moldy. Since I had already gotten my tastes set on garlic bread I got out the plain ole sandwich bread and buttered it and garlic salted it. Then I stuck it in the oven. By the time that I finished doing that, the other pot of spaghetti was done cooking. BeeBoo didn't want to eat so I ate and enjoyed my spaghetti and salad. I took my plate to the sink and saw the measuring cup that I had melted the butter in. Then I thought, "Oh crap. The bread's been in the oven all this time." I took out six pieces of charcoal. I immediately thought of Christy, Em's mom. I used to give her grief about her habit of burning bread. I thought it was a simple thing to remember to get the bread out. Now I'm sure that she's going to return the favor.

After all that mess with dinner, I had a brief moment of unexpected beauty. I was looking out our window into our postage stamp backyard (It's like 10' by 10') and I see a hummingbird come out of nowhere, take a sip of our Cosmos, and continue it's journey elsewhere. It reminded me of a campfire tradition that we had at one scout camp we told our rose and thorn of the day. That's where we would look back on the day and tell one good thing (rose) and one bad thing (thorn) that happened to us. So there's my rose and thorn of the week.

"I'm agnostic"

For years I've always had in my head that my condition of not being able to smell very well made me "agnotstic." I sorta knew that that wasn't quite right. I finally looked it up today. I am definitely not "a person who holds the view that any ultimate reality (as God) is unknown and probably unknowable." The word I was thinking of is really "anosmia." But anosmia still isn't the right word. Anosmia is a complete lack of smell. I am able to smell some things. The correct word is hyposmia, which is a decrease in the sensitivity of smell. I'm glad that's all cleared up.

Book Review: I Will Teach You To Be Rich

I thought that with school behind me that I wouldn't have to write a book review any more. But this book is deserving of recommendation. I decided that now that I have a "real job" I should learn more about what to do with my money. The title makes it sound like those "get rich quick" books that don't really teach you anything, but make you excited to buy the next step in their "building wealth formula." This book has great practical information and action steps to take to get control of your financial situation and then to set up your accounts so that investments and payments are as automatic as you are willing to make them. It's also has explanations on 401Ks and ROTH IRAs that make sense. The author gives illustrative examples and explanations that show why his simple suggestions are better than doing nothing. Most of the stuff in the book isn't new, it's just put together in a concise, easy-to-read format. It is geared more towards the younger crowd, but there's some stuff in there that everyone can benefit from.

Celebrate 100 Years of BSA...

With some gnomes!

Looks like they ran out of good ideas for making money off the centennial celebration. All kidding aside, I'm excited about the anniversary. There's a new handbook, BSA national is going on tour, and a good time to reflect on the past and press on into the future.

Dell Support Rant

Everytime I try to download drivers from Dell's support website, it takes forever and a day for it to load a single page. Click........................Click............................................Click............................. Now I'm to where I want to start. Then more waiting. I don't know if their servers are slow or what the problem is.

Night Frisbee

Last weekend I went camping and had a really good time. The best part was tossing the frisbee around late at night. To up the ante, the frisbee was black. It was fun trying to catch a near invisible disc flying at your head. Naturally there were the occasional collisions between scouts and plastic, but no serious harm came out of it.

Last night at Scouts we held elections for leadership positions. We also looked at some patrol patches for ideas for a new patrol name. Currently they are the Highlanders because we are the Highland ward. Here's the website we looked at. They narrowed it down to Flaming Flying Squirrels, Flaming Marshmallows, Ninjas, Purple Platypus, Duct Tape, and Spicy Tacos. Fun fun. It was good to see them excited. I'm hoping this will give them more of a reason to wear their scout uniforms.

Clay pigeon shooting

A few months back I had a great time with Ron shooting out on the plains of Iowa. He has an awesome over under shotgun. It was my first time shooting at anything that moved. I think I did alright for a first timer. I think I shot around 40 - 50%. The only other shooting I've done is at stationary targets. 22s at Scout Camp, 40 aught 6 at Philmont, and some cool rifles that I don't know with Curt and Cliff.

Eat Well

I think this picture says it all when it comes to my perception of food. Not so much of the cherry pie filling (which is wonderful), but in the concept. I love good food. Especially my Gran's mint brownies. I could eat half a sheet of those.

Scout Camp

I was able to spend the whole week with my boys down in Hoosier National Forest at Camp Maumee. We had lots of fun even though our first day got off to a rough start. I forgot some important papers that we needed to check in so I had to drive back home and pick them up. (2 hour round trip) On top of that, a mile outside of camp, Bro Bixler's tire exploded. So the scouts were stuck for a bit while I went to pick up a tire while I got the papers. Oh, and during my 2 hour trip getting things we had an enormous downpour that flooded some streets in Bloomington. After that terrible first morning, things went really well. We went swimming in the lake, fished, and the boys worked hard on their merit badges. The bishop came to visit and wouldn't stand too near the boys because of the smell. It was good to get back home at the end of the week.

Open Source @ BSA - A Year Later

Last year this month, the Boy Scouts of America started an open source site at https://opensource.scouting.org/ You may notice that your browser won't open it automatically because there is a security certificate issue. I didn't really understand what the goal of the site was then and I'm still not quite sure I know now. I believe it's supposed to be a place where people can collaborate and create free software for BSA purposes. My first thought was an open source version of TroopMaster which tracks scout info, ranks, advancement, etc. I think that project was trying to get off the ground, but now I can't find it. I went to the news section just to see what was going on. The last (and first) post was an announcement the "The Boy Scouts have joined the Open Source Community" (posted May 9, 2008).

I don't know what I can do, but I'm going to try to see what I can contribute to their effort because free stuff is cool and useful free stuff is even cooler.

Like a Thief in the Night

Emily was having sudo-regular contractions all day on Sunday (which turned out to be a fast day because we have Stake Conference next week). I was starting to get nervous around 3:00 so I decided I should go ahead and break my fast and get something to eat in case she was having a baby. It was probably a good thing because I've had a looong day on Monday.

Emily called the midwife around 10:30 p.m. and we had some friends come over to stay with Nora through the night. Emily was really good and strong and amazing. And the midwife and nurses were great, too. And then our baby came at 3:42 a.m. He's just the best thing and he's healthy and beautiful.

We came in thinking to name him James Royal. That didn't change. So he's named after Emily's paternal grandfather and my paternal grandfather. We're thinking of calling him James or Jay. Thanks to James Taylor he has a great theme song until he's a toddler.

Borrowed Light

While I was caving, I had an experience that taught me something. After climbing back up the waterfall and squeezing my way back (getting stuck sometimes), I noticed that my headlamp was getting dimmer. Then finally the batteries died and the light went out. Luckily I was with two other guys who were ahead of me and I could make do with their light. It was also a good thing that we were mostly out of the tight part. The way out of the tight slot canyon was up a hole into a bigger room. The two guys ahead of me went up and I was left in the dark feeling around for some purchase to lift myself up. The other guys came back (I guess they were just looking at the surrounding for a while) when I was almost out of the hole.

I was thinking that we need a light to find our way in this life. For us LDS folk, that would be our testimony in Jesus Christ and His teachings. But for others it might be good values, the Golden Rule; something that gives this life purpose and explains how we are to act and be. Sometimes you can make it by with the light of others. But there comes a point where we are alone or our situation is difficult and unique to ourselves so that we can not rely on other people. Everyone experiences this. Even our Savior, who was a perfect man and had the companionship of Heavenly Father with Him for most of His life, experienced being alone. At this point we can no longer tread our way on borrowed light. We must find it within ourselves and it becomes our strength to press forward and live life with a fulness that brings joy and peace.

Holes in the ground

I just got back from a trip down memory tunnel. I went with the scouts to Buckner's Cave today. I went a long time ago when I was a scout and then again with Seth one time. We had one turn back when he saw the entrance. The opening is pretty big, but then it turns off to the left into the "birth canal." To get in there you have to go head first into a hole-like tunnel and out into the canal. Then it's roughly 100 yards of crawling/rolling/scootching. Then it opens up so you can stand. The cave is too big to explore all in one day (we only stayed 3 - 4 hours). We decided to go towards the waterfall. I don't think I've ever gone that way before.

The way there was like a really narrow slot canyon. Parts of the way you could traverse above the stream, but there came a point where I had to crawl in the water. Then the stream goes down a hole that is at the top of another room. People have put in a rope to climb down. That was fun climbing down and up a waterfall. It was only about 15 - 17 feet.

The only bad part is knowing that you have to go back out the same way you came in. That wasn't so fun. But all in all an excellent trip.

Sorry I don't have any pictures, but it was really dusty and wet which equals muddy in places. It feels good to be clean again.

Plastic make the world go 'round

And it goes around the world. Unfortunately it finds its way into the ocean. I was reading an article in the Sierra Club magazine today and it talked about the giant mass of trash in the Pacific Ocean and the life cycle of plastic. Every year in the U.S. 12.5 million tons of plastic is unaccounted for (Plastic that doesn't reach the dump or to the recycling facility). That's a lot. I'm glad that where we live it's not too difficult to recycle. In Utah, they didn't have recycle bins for pick up or somewhere we could take it to. Right now we collect our recyclables during the week and take it to a recycle center five minutes away. I makes me feel good that I can do something to lessen (although only to a small degree) the garbage being spewed out by our society.

Our Economy

Stephan Pastis gives an explanation of our current economy that I think is fitting.

LoveSac

I just wanted to thank Ron and Christy for lugging their huge LoveSac from Iowa to our place in Indiana. We visited them over spring break and they said that we could have it if we could fit it in our car. We tried buying a moving kit from the store, but they were sold out. I tried looking around for large plastic bags to put it in so that it could be shrunk down in size, but the biggest ones I found were too flimsy. So instead of selling it on Craigslist.com, they brought it down (mostly for me...Em wasn't all that excited about it) over Easter. I think we're going to wait and see what's going to happen with me finding a job first before we let it out of the bag. But it's still awesome!

"True Essence of Cajun Music"???

I could not wrap my head around this. It's hard to feature such an instrument that only makes one sound. But somehow someone thought it was worth almost an hour's worth of time on a CD.

I love this quote:

"Melodic or harmonic content just gets in the way of, you know, what the triangle can really ... The nuances that can really be brought out ... You'll notice the nuances and the differences," Justus says. "Each song has a story all its own."

I don't want to knock the triangle. It has its place in music, don't get me wrong. But the spotlight is not where I'd expect the triangle to be found.

Beware the cunning of an almost 3 year old

BeeBoo has lately been trying out a new tactic on getting to do what she wants to do even after we tell her she isn't allowed. Mommy will say, "Don't climb on the desk, BeeBoo. You might fall and hurt yourself." Then she says, "Mommy, go upstairs and do read a book." I think it's hilarious. She's got a good mind on her.

When toddlers do laundry...

Nora decided that she wanted to do some things that Mommy does. She grabbed a pair of panties from the basket in the bathroom and one by one took them here to "dry."

Capstone Project

This is my final week of working on my program's final project where we use all that we have learned to solve a real problem from a real company. My team and I have been working with a company to help them with their IT staff recruiting and retention. It's been quite the experience interviewing current employees of the company about what they like and don't like about where they work. Our goal was to sift out what makes people stay (some have been there 25+ years right out of college) and what could be improved upon to attract young college grads, such as myself.

We've done most of the hard work already, but now we're compiling it all together in a report and slide show presentation. We are presenting our findings and recommendations to the CIO, VPs, and other interested parties next Monday. I think we're on track with what they wanted and we also have solid recommendations that will help the company attract college grads. I've focused on telecommuting, flexible time off, suggestion box, streamlining decision making and creating a career path and development program.

After Monday, all I have left is one class that meets twice a week. Let the good time roll...

OSSIM

While I'm waiting for some papers to print for my wife, I came across this cool security solution. I don't have time to properly evaluate it, but it looks like a neat package of open source tools for monitoring your network activity and security. I'll try and add more later.

Earth Hour Followup

So Saturday night was fun. For some reason BeeBoo was still up when 8:30 came so she got to be a part of it too. We didn't go completely dark. We only turned on the light for where we were at and we tried to stay in the same room. BeeBoo told us not to turn off all the lights. Even though we didn't go completely dark, I think that we try to be conservative everyday to make up for it.

Father and Student

I was thinking about my impending graduation from academia and being thrust into the job market and I concluded that I've had a pretty nice life these past few years. I've been able to be home a lot of the time which allows me to play, discover, nap, and enjoy life with BeeBoo. Not very many dads get to do that. Mostly I'm just thankful that this has been my life.

Pioneer children sang as they walked and walked...

(For the record, BeeBoo and I went on a bike ride to the store before this picture and she didn't want to take off the helmet.) As I went inside to get my camera, BeeBoo tells her friend, "Daddy's gonna get the camera to take a picture of my cute face." Then her friend replies, "Yeah! It is cute!"

Awesome New Class

I just started my Network Management class here at IU. This is going to be a fun ride. Instead of the abstract, theoretical and best practices type of teaching that I've been used to, I'm going to set up a network from the ground up. We're using Cisco equipment, VMware, and Cacti (which I only glanced at while I was looking around for network-management-type software when I was working at Author House). I'm not going to learn about it...I'm going to use it and know it. It's sad that spring break is over, but this class was a great way to get back into school work. Another thing that is great about this class is that every aspect that we'll be covering, we're going to learn about the security part of it, too.

Earth Hour

I found this a while ago and now that I have a blog I can tell you about it. I think this is a great idea. Just turn your lights off for one hour on Saturday, March 28, 8:30-9:30pm. It's a little thing to do, but if a lot of people do it then it makes a huge impact. I think it's cool that there are global initiatives like this. Even though we don't have any contact with people from all around the world, we can participate in something important together.

Coming out of the closet

I'm a closet bird watcher. When I lived at my old house in Ohio, I used to take my grandfather's binoculars and look at the cardinals, chickadees, robins, and mourning doves. I still enjoy watching birds, but I don't have as much opportunity. Nowadays I watch birds at Gran's house. She has a couple feeders that attract quite a few birds. Recently on my drive from Indiana to Iowa, my wife and I spotted around 30 hawks (mostly Red-tailed), 3 Bald Eagles, and at least 10 American Kestrels. We also saw a hand full of deer and a coyote. I enjoy looking for our my furry/feathered neighbors.

Late to the game

For a technology major, you'd think that I'd have one of these long before now. I'm not sure what kinds of things I will post here. Off the top of my head I'm thinking of writing about my family (and our experiences), technology (security, free stuff, home projects, and anything else cool), being green (not Kermit green...the eco-friendly kind), and anything worth thinking about (life lessons, great quotes, and other things of value that I stumble upon).