Internet Bored

I suppose I'm trying to prove that last time's update of my blog wasn't a once in a 7 month experience.

I ran across an article on Yahoo! that frustrated me. But before I get to that, I think it's funny that every time the Internet is in front of my face, I do the same thing.

First, I hit the political sites:
Independent Elephant
Red State
CNN
Fox News

Then, I go to Yahoo and scroll through the various stories they have highlighted.

Then I browse the sports blogs:
Cougar Tracks on KSL.com
ESPN.com
Rivals.com

Finally, I'm ready to get to the business at hand, and if I didn't have any business, then I don't know what to do which means I usually leave the computer.

At night, when I'm putting Ellie and Lincoln to bed, it's the same deal, except I use my iPod to browse through the following sites:
Letters from Harriett
Smithsonians (because I know it will be updated)
Other Family blogs in no particular order
Then, I use the Evernote app on my ipod to write in my journal
Then I look up all relevant sports scores and read associated stories
Then I go to more political blogs:
MarkLevinShow.com
Politico.com
NewsBusters.org

by then, the kids are usually asleep. I used to be annoyed that I had to spend an hour downstairs getting them to bed, but now, not so much.

Anyway, I think Internet routines are kind of funny.

So this article was a little frustrating to me. Their number one suggestion is to fidget. Seriously? Does anyone know a bigger fidgeter than me? And at 215 lbs., I'm officially in the obese category. Lame!

This is like those articles that tell you to not buy that cafe latte in order to save money. Thanks for nothing.

In the interest of those that would scream TMI, I won't go over my Internet browsing habits while I'm on the pot.

Talk

I'm giving a talk this Sunday in church on Family History. I'm also updating this blog for the first time in like seven months, but we'll pretend that it's always updated.

Anyway, if anyone wants to see the carnage, our church is at 11. Hopefully the sister speaking before me gives a 45 minute talk like last time.

Led Zeppelin Meets the World's Lamest Sport

I dare anyone to say synchronized swimming is boring after watching this masterpiece.

Think Blue

If I don't do this now, I might lose the chance to bask in the glow of the Dodgers being a good team.

I was very excited for this baseball season, because it finally looked like the Dodgers would have a good chance to go deep in the playoffs. They have been very good this year.

They lost their star player, the best offensive player in the game for 50 games. It has had an impact. Their winning percentage is down by .124 since Manny had to leave.

That being said, the Dodgers have held it together with a 21-14 record since. If they had Manny, they probably would have had 25 wins in that same time period, and it's not out of reach to say that Manny could have won 4 out of 35 games for them.

When he comes back, there is potential for a tremendous season. Lets hope they keep it rolling.

And for those of you who say the Dodgers play in a weak division, consider that since Manny has been out, they've played 6 games vs. the Phillies, and 3 vs. the Rangers, both leaders of their respective divisions. They are a combined 6-3 giving them a win percentage of .667, which is better than their overall season win percentage.

Since I'm a fan, I'm going to go ahead and look forward to the World Series. The one team in the AL I wouldn't like to see the Dodgers face would be the Tigers, so there's a feather in your cap, Brett. Sure, Boston, New York, and Texas all have more wins right now, but the Dodgers just beat Texas in Arlington, Manny would have something to prove against Boston, and does anyone think the Dodgers would have trouble hitting it out of Yankee Stadium. That place is a launching pad.

So the NL had better go out and win the All Star Game, and the Dodgers better stay away from devastating injury and make it to the World Series. I have some chickens that I've counted that haven't yet hatched.

You may all go on with your lives.

Bubsywood

PS. Tyler and Jackson and all other Braves fans, when are you going to see the light and root for a cool team? My brothers are beyond hope, but I gave you guys more credit for choosing cool teams. Guess I was wrong.

A Decade

One of the most common questions my students ask me is: "How can your wife stand you?" The answer is simple, I take out all my vitriol and venom on my students, so by the time I come home, my wife thinks I'm a functional human being. (By the way, did anyone else think that people were saying "human bean" instead of "human being" when they were growing up? I remember when I was like 12 finally figuring out that people weren't comparing humans to a legume.)

And so I'm proud to announce that today is my 10 year anniversary, which I think means I'm supposed to give her something made of tin. Hopefully she accepts synthetic fibers instead.

I will now make a list of things that Ange has had to endure throughout our ten year marriage. In no particular order (keeping in mind that all numbers are approximates unless denoted by an asterisk)...

220 Platypi games

220 scabs on my knee from sliding

3,653* nights of me talking in my sleep

7,306* trips to the bathroom

10 Christmas Vacations up to Idaho

95,622* way funny jokes

7 inappropriate, non-funny, or off color jokes

5* computers

7 cell phones

5,220 glasses of chocolate milk

4,221 socks to pick up

120 BYU football games

3 trips out of town because of work

1 little boy who loves to learn

1 little girl who loves her shoes

2 little kids who love their daddy's ipod

The list could go on. I hope it does. Ange could not be reached for comment.

Psalms 145:9 "The Lord is good to all: and his tender mercies are over all his works."

When I reflect on the "tender mercies" that the Lord has shown me, the majority, begin or end with my wife. Ange, of course, has a different point of view... I'm pretty sure she's with me because she feels sorry for me.

I just think this picture's funny. I don't know what it has to do with anything.

In non sappy news, Lagoon in June is this Friday. Courtney, or more specifically, Terek had better come down, since Lincoln has been talking non stop this last week about going on rides with Terek. (Sorry if I didn't spell his name right... I'm sure you all understand.)

For all those Idaho people, Friday is supposed to be the best weather day the entire week. Which means it should only rain a quarter of the time. The high is supposed to be like 72 degrees, which means about thirty degrees warmer than the water at Lagoon A Beach. You've been warned. I'd bring a nice waterproof jacket.

Sports Saturday

So Lincoln is playing soccer. He's always really excited to go play soccer, but it's a total crap shoot what's going to happen once we get to the park.

He did a good job yesterday, he got to kick the ball several times, and once he took it from his own end line past midfield, running past the opposition as he kept kicking the ball. He was eventually stopped by his own teammate. She's 5 to Lincoln's 3, and a much faster runner. She caught him, kicked the ball away from him, and tripped and fell. Lincoln, upon seeing someone fall down, decided to pile on.

Above is photo proof of the episode I described. The girl to the right is the one who caught him. I was talking to her mom later on, and she said that they give her a dollar for every goal she scores. I noticed after that, that she seemed a little more selfish. Plus, her mom said that one week, they had to pony up $27, one for each goal her older daughter scored.

Paying kids for scoring goals... probably not a good idea.

Later on in the day, Lincoln had a free ticket to a Real Salt Lake Game. Real Salt Lake, for those who don't know is Utah's MLS soccer team. Real means "Royal" in Spanish, so their name means "Royal Salt Lake". And they play in Sandy.

Anyway, the facility is really nice. One of the nicer stadiums I've been to. The individual seats are even contoured to accommodate your back. I'd like to see a football game there one day. As for the soccer game that happened while I was there, it didn't change my mind much about soccer. Following is a list of problems I have with the worlds most popular game. Keep in mind, I've actually tried to like soccer. It's true. Just ask my family.

• They need to change that insane offsides rule to be a fixed point on the field, instead of defenders that can move. Like Hockey.


• Rules only seem to be occasionally applied, making newbies like me scratch their heads as to when a foul should be called, and when it shouldn't.


• To help apply those rules, there should be more than 1 ref to make calls out there. Basketball has a much smaller court, and manages to have 3 refs... and they still miss calls.


• Fans should not be allowed to throw urine bombs under any circumstances.


• People should stop trying to make me like soccer.

I don't want to make anyone defensive... I'd just like to know how a die hard soccer fan justifies the above list.

In the end, our royal Salt Lakers lost 2-0 to the Kansas City Monarchs. No word if they are also royal, or just a butterfly. In any event, a 2-0 loss in soccer, is like losing 133 - 0 in real (English definition) football. I think I might spend $10 or so a seat to watch a soccer game again. The stadium was great, the atmosphere was incredible, and the drummer played the drums throughout the entire game. Maybe if my team scored a goal once in a while, it'd be more exciting.

Finally, a gratuitous Ellie picture.

That's her with Ange's cousin Lynsie, or as I call her "bug eyed glasses lady".

So you had a bad day...

I'm minding my own business at work, eating a nice pizza for lunch when Ange calls me up and tells me that our basement has once again flooded. We spent $4000 or so last fall to keep water from flooding from the outside. This flood came from the inside. The pipes had backed up, and water had come through the drain into our newly finished downstairs family room.

We spent the rest of the day dealing with the flood. We had a plumber over to try to clear up the blockage, but he couldn't help and referred us to another company that could. They unclogged the pipes, and said they were blocked some 70 feet from where they were.

The cleanup company came and cut out our carpet and put fans to dry everything up. Since there was a possibility that it was sewer water, they told us we had to cut the carpet out, and we had to depart with 10 year old towels that were given to us as a wedding present. They were old, of course, but I don't usually buy towels until they're absolutely necessary.

Everybody left, and we went on with the two hour project of getting the kids in bed. At about 10 pm or so, the kids had eaten and were down to sleep, I look and Ange and tell her that it's finally time to get to bed, and put this horrible day behind us.

Then Ange says "I think I smell natural gas."

Of course, she did smell natural gas, so we called the gas company, woke up the kids, got them out of the house, and waited for the nice gas man.

There was no leak. As most of you probably suspected, the chances of having main water line backup and a gas leak on the same day are astronomical, and so the problems were probably somehow related. So it was. The fans blew out the pilot light to our water heater, and gas seeped out for a couple of minutes before it shut off.

Our little family was very tired the next day.

In the end, our insurance company (in the long run, us) is paying for brand new carpet for most of our downstairs and upstairs, which is nice, since we need new carpet. I think it goes to show that there is usually a silver lining to most bad situations... except having a two year old.