Change of Pace

For a little change of pace, we will have a blog entry written by Megan today.

I know you all are anxious to find out how the interviews are going. I had my second interview with a company called BC Designs yesterday. The first interview went great but I'm still trying to decide how I felt about the interview yesterday. It was with the president and owner of the company so thats got to make anyone feel a bit nervous. I was thrown off for a bit in the beginning because I walked into his office and it looked like my office would look if I hadn't cleaned it in 20 years. Now I'm not going to judge anyone for having a messy office because we all know that I'm not the cleanest person in the world, but it did make it difficult in trying to show him my portfolio. I had to put the box over piles of paper and other junk on his desk because there was nowhere to put everything otherwise. Once I had shown him each piece there wasn't really anywhere to put it. He didn't really have too much to say about my portfolio, but doesn't necessarily mean he wasn't impressed by it, he was just hard to read.

After I showed him my portfolio, he took me on a tour of the office and told me a little more about the company. While we were touring we ran into the designer who interviewed me and he looked pleased to see me so that's a good sign. The company is actually set in two different buildings so the design department is separated from most of the hustle and bustle of the main office.

After the interview he asked me if I had any questions then sent me on my way. The reason I'm a little anxious about whether or not I'm getting this job is because he didn't make me an offer and didn't give me any information about when I should be hearing back about the job. He did give me his card and told me to call him if I had any questions, so I made sure to write him an email and thank him for the interview and asked him to let me know that the next steps in the hiring process are.

My favorite perk of getting this job would be that it's about 3 miles from our house. That means I can ride my bike to work. What's even greater is that the canal runs right behind our house and is pretty much a direct route to the office. That means I wouldn't even have to take the main roads to work. I can just ride along side the canal every day.

I had another interview with a company called Ride Now Motor Sports this morning that went well. I believe I had the first interview slot so I won't hear anything for a few days.

I wasn't really sure what to expect when going into the interview. It was a callback on a job posting I responded to about a week ago and forgot about, so I didn't know that much about the company going into it. I was surprised that it took up a pretty large building. The office is the corporate headquarters of about 30 stores across the nation. The great thing about this company is that it's fairly large and still growing. That means a bit more job security for yours truly. The design department is actually really large which would be nice for me since I've never worked in that large of a department. The company is actually located a stones throw away from the other company I've interviewed with so I could still ride me bike.

So at this point, everything is just wait and see. I would be thrilled to get either job.


On a sadder note . . .
We had our funeral for Turbo last night. It was a sad little affair, but it was as nice of a funeral as any tortoise could hope for. We used a black canvas box that I made a couple of years ago for the coffin and filled it with wood shavings and a good picture of James and Turbo together. I made him a headstone with a drawing of him on a piece of flagstone we found to put in his cage. We also bought a small bunch of yellow flowers to put at his grave. So we had a little candle light ceremony for him and sent him on his way. It was pretty sad to say goodbye to our little guy.

So for the next few day's I'm gong to try and get all the things done I can that will be easier now that I'm not in work. This involves stuff like getting a new drivers license and the such.

I will keep you posted on the any updates in the job situation. Thank you all for your prayers on our behalf. Hopefully we will know soon.

Love you all,

Megan

He Had the Heart of a Champion

If you have known me for very long, you'll know that I'm not always crazy about animals. I've probably eaten more dogs than I've petted, and I just plain don't get along with cats. I'm not a "pet guy." It's not my style.

About 4 years ago I became friends with my buddy Dave. He's the one who got me started playing bass and whatnot. Anyway, Dave had a pet tortoise named The Swashbuckler. I immediately took a liking to the guy and decided that someday I would own a tortoise of my own.

Fast forward a couple years and I'm starting to like Megan again. One time when I dropped by her house, I noticed she had a tortoise. If something bad about a potential girlfriend can be called a deal breaker, something awesome like owning a tortoise could be called a deal maker. It wasn't the most important factor in me finally dating Megan, but I would be lying if I said it wasn't a definite perk. I took to him immediately and was as concerned for him as Megan was, even though he wasn't technically "mine" at the time.

I have grown to love turbo over the past year or so. I was the one who started saying, "He has the heart of a champion." I said it at first as sort of joke when we saw him struggling to climb over his house. But as time has proven, Turbo really did have the heart of a champion.

He was small for his age and he always seemed to be getting sick. Megan and I have nursed him back to health on several occasions. I don't think I've ever been as excited to watch an animal eat as I have been with Turbo. Eating meant he was getting the nutrients his little body needed, so it was always relieving to see him crunch into his lettuce (even though he always had pretty poor depth perception and often came up with a mouth full of nothing, which was always funny to watch). He ate like a dinosaur (not in quantity, but in the way I'd expect a dinosaur to eat) and it was never dull to watch him.

A few months back, Megan and I were getting increasingly concerned over Turbo's declining health. In our many trips to the reptile store, we would ask them how big a tortoise of Turbo's age should be, and how he should be behaving. We found, much to our disappointment, that he wasn't growing as quickly as he should. He was only about 2 inches across and he should've been 5 or 6 inches. His eating habits were not good enough to maintain his health, and we noticed that his little arms and legs were getting smaller and weaker. He didn't even look as healthy as the hatchlings the reptile store had for sale.

Every day over the past few weeks I would pick Turbo up and get him to move his arms and legs to make sure they wouldn't atrophy. I did everything I could to encourage him to eat and move around, but he seemed to be less and less motivated to do any of these things. Megan and I have often wondered if Turbo has just felt horrible every day of his little life. It could very well be true. He's had a number of health problems and even a trip to the vet and a round of antibiotics didn't seem to give him the help he needed.

Over the past month he was eating maybe only once a week, if that. It was over the past two weeks that he really declined. He didn't eat or move. I couldn't even get him to move his arms and legs without coaxing him first. It was becoming apparent (though I refused to believe it) that his little life might be coming to an end.

Yesterday I got a call from Megan. She told me that he was not responding when she tried to soak him or sun him under the heat lamp. She said he seemed to be near the end. The funny (if you can call it that) thing about tortoises is that it's hard to tell if they're dead. In Turbo's case it seems pretty sure. He has pulled his little arms and legs inside his shell and they have gotten stiff. We can't see any movement from him at all, and we can't coax any out of him.

There has been an air of sadness that has permeated the last couple days. I always knew there was a strong possibility that Turbo might not live out his full age (about 40 years for his species). I didn't think it would come to this so soon. I will miss the little guy. We will surely have other tortoises and they'll probably be a whole lot healthier than Turbo was, but he'll always be my little guy. I didn't ever think I would feel this strongly for a pet of any sort, but I do.

Turbo always brightened my day. There was never a time when seeing him didn't make me just a little bit happier. But I do take comfort in the fact that if he was in pain (as we have every reason to suspect that he was) it is over now and he has lived out the measure of his creation and has gone on to a better place. Megan and I will miss him.

I can think of no better epitaph for him than those words I originally said in jest, but seem to describe him better than any others I could hope to find: He Had the Heart of a Champion.

Synchronize Your Prayers on My Mark

Before I launch into any discussion of how great a weekend Megan and I had, I have to shoot a beaming ray of hope into everyone's heart. As you know, Megan lost her job this last month and things have been a little tough for us. Of course we've had plenty of blessings and have had a number of small miracles that have kept us afloat. But there is a hope that things might be getting a whole lot better for us soon.

Here's the straight dope on all this: Megan has a 2nd interview with a company she interviewed with last week. We're fairly sure that this interview will be the job offer itself, so Megan could be employed again soon. Also, I applied for a job over at the map collection in the science library. It's a job that would pay me a whole bunch more than I'm currently getting paid, and I'd have the benefit of not working here, which is as big a perk as anyone could ever give me. I have an interview for that job set up for Thursday. So this week will really be a big one for Megan and I. We could have a massive positive shift in our careers by the end of the week. So we're asking for your hopes and prayers on our behalf.

Megan has a pretty good chance of getting the job she's interviewing for. In the first interview, the guy was really impressed with her portfolio (as is everyone who sees it. She does good work). This second interview will be with the boss man who has power to hire her. If he's as impressed with Megan as everybody who has ever met her, she should get the job. It's not a done deal yet, but we have plenty of hope for this one.

As for my interview, there are a lot of reasons to be positive about it. First of all, Karina (Todd's wife) is on the search committee. If I got the job I would be her superior, which would benefit her as much as it benefits me. I know she's pulling for me, so that's good. Also Jeremy, who is one of the two student workers I would be over is a guy I work with here in this library as well. He and I already have a good working relationship, so I'm sure that will factor into it as well. Also, in the phone call with the head librarian of the science library, she asked if Nick, my coworker, was my supervisor. I told her that he was just my reference and that the boss man was my supervisor. She asked if she could contact him and I told her, "Sure, but you're probably not going to get as glowing a reference from him as you will from Nick." She responded, "Yeah, I know." She was the one who rescued the last two people who escaped from this place, and she called Nick for his opinion of Jeremy before hiring him. Nick told her that Jeremy was good, so she hired him. So Nick's influence with the head librarian there will be a good thing to have as well. It feels so much like things are just falling into place that I can't help but get my hopes up. Of course it's more important to me to see Megan get her job, but I really hope that we both get the jobs we're interviewing for. We'd have a lot more money, but I'd also have a lot more sanity, which is more important. Every prayer I send up this week will be pleading for us to both get these jobs. So that's the most important thing you need to know right now.

Megan and I had a really good weekend. It was probably a product of all this hope that was floating around. There were a few times where Megan and I were just laughing or smiling for no good reason. We discussed over and over the positive effects that could come if we both get new jobs. The last time I had this much hope and was excited about anything was over a year ago when I thought there was a good chance that Megan would actually date me.

Friday was when we both found out about our interviews, so when I got home from work, we decided that we needed to take a little time to celebrate. We have been going to the dollar movies about every other week, but because we've been poor we use rolls of quarters, dimes, and nickels to pay for everything. This weekend we decided to go see "Hancock" despite its bad reviews and whatnot. Megan and I slammed down our change for tickets, popcorn, and a drink and as we were walking into the theater I asked her, "Are you ready to be severely disappointed?" She said, "Yes." So basically, we had pretty low expectations for the movie. We were pleasantly surprised. I think if you're expecting "Hancock" to be the superhero movie to end all superhero movies, you'll be disappointed. But if you expect a big budget movie with good special effects and a plot line that may or may not completely suspend your disbelief, you'll probably enjoy it. I'd definitely watch it again, given the chance.

On Saturday we woke up way wicked late. We had been house sitting, so we had to drive all the way back to the boonies of Chandler after the movie, which was the late show. So we rolled out of bed, threw the house together, and got back home around noon-ish. I spent some time throwing a bunch of mp3's on the old ipod, which is Megan's new baby. I caught some glimpses of what turned out to be a wild weekend of college football (top teams losing, non-BCS teams tearing it up e.g. BYU?!) and then Megan and I set out for our regular Saturday things. We dropped by DI, where we found nothing that we needed to own (I actually have a lot more fun at DI than Megan does. I feel bad about that). We dropped by the reptile store where a number of cute little tortoises caught our fancy (If Megan and I both get our jobs, don't think we won't go right for the tortoises. We really want 'em). After that, Megan remembered that she had the women's conference, so we grabbed a quick lunch and she headed out. I then spent the time while Megan was away, looking at video games and dreaming. I then came home and played video games, which made me feel a whole lot better. In other news, I'm getting better at Circus Atari all the time.

Sunday was fast Sunday because of conference next week. Megan and I both bore our testimonies because we really have been blessed this month. It's been a real test of faith, but I think we're passing. Church was really good. Our financial clerk was back at church for the first time in 5 weeks. He's a med student and had to work Sundays for a little while. I didn't have to do the tithing, which was fine with me. I pulled the records I needed to pull, printed up an ordination certificate, and got out of the clerk's office without too much hassle. All in all, it was a good Sunday.

After church, Megan and I had a delicious meal to break our fasts. She cooked up a stew and we had biscuits to go with it. By the end of the meal we were both exhausted (you know how fast Sunday can do it to you) so we caught a quick nap. Afterward, we pulled out the old cribbage board. Megan holds the all-time lead on me at two games to one. She beat me in the first game in an embarrassing loss. I had barely rounded the final corner when she put it home. In the second game, I had the queen mother of all great hands. Let's just say that everything I had was a counter. I've never seen a hand that fantastic and it'll probably be a long time before I see another one. My one good hand gave me a good enough lead to hang on for the victory. So Megan still leads three games to two in the all-time rankings, but I feel like I'm sitting a lot better than I was. Before my one lucky hand, she had a three to one edge on me, and was leading in that game as well. I think she pulls out the over competitive gene in me. Things were a little tense before I pulled out the win in the last game.

Anyway, we had a nice, long, pleasant weekend. It was exactly what we needed coming into this week. There is so much riding on the events of this week, so it's hard to not feel a little excited and anxious. Of course we'll keep you posted on any and all developments and as I said before, we really appreciate all your prayers on our behalf.

Don't You Die On Me

So today is Friday. That's a pretty good thing going for today right there. I'm at work, which counteracts the coolness of Friday but what can ya do. I've got to put food on my family, so I gotta work.

I have spent a good deal of my morning time today doing two things: 1) I filled out the meme below (yes, I usually do the meme before the entry. Shocking, I know. That's why you get a lot of entry that say, "I have no time to write" and then they're followed by a filthin' long meme) and 2) reviving my old 3rd Generation ipod.

I don't know how much you know about ipods, but here's the skinny on my old one. The first generation of ipods was released in 2001. Tom had one and I was jealous. But they were only made for Mac back then so I hoped that they would release a Windows version. The 2nd generation came in 2002 and was the first Windows compatible ipod. I was going to buy one when I got one of my college grants, but Tom wisely told me to wait for the 3rd generation. The 3rd generation had a high-end 40 gig version as compared to the 10 or 20 gig versions of the 1st and 2nd generations. I let Uncle Sam buy me the 40 gig version as soon as my grant came in, and it turned out to be one of the best purchases of my life. I remember bringing home that cube-shaped box like it was only yesterday.

In much the same way that people who get cell phones become almost immediately dependent on their phone, I became hooked on my ipod. I had been taking music with me wherever I went for years before I got my ipod, but that involved a discman and a wallet full of CD's. The ipod was able to hold more music than any of my CD wallets and zip through songs and albums faster than I could've ever imagined. Every time I turned my ipod on it was like magic.

There are very few gadgets that can claim to have changed my life as substantially as my ipod. But there's a funny thing that happens with electronic gadgets: they get old and outdated. When I bought my ipod, hardly any of my friends even knew what an ipod was. I found myself explaining the concept of an mp3 player than can hold 40 gigs of music to people at parties. It was like explaining the internet to someone in 1988. When I got my ipod it was sleek, thin, and cool. It looked like a piece of alien hardware. But after a few years, everyone seemed to be getting ipods. There were nanos, shuffles, minis, and videos. All of a sudden the 3rd generation seemed old and out of date. It also started to skip around and not play the songs like it was supposed to. The battery life started to suffer even though I replaced the battery. I was sad to retire it, but it seemed its time had come.

I bought a 30 gig video ipod (5th generation) and that is my current ipod that I use on a daily basis. It is now out of date now that the 6th generation, ipod touch, and iphone have come out. No doubt we'll go through this thing again when my current ipod starts acting up. I could start a whole rant on planned obsolescence, but I won't.

So my old 3rd generation ipod, which looks like this:


has been sitting in a drawer for about 3 years. I had not made any attempts to revive it, though it always seemed a shame to throw out such an elegant (though now chunky and old in comparison with the newer models) gadget. So it collected dust until yesterday, when I was searching through a bunch of open source software and found a thing called rockbox. Rockbox is a replacement for the standard ipod operating system and it is designed to be more efficient and work better than the original firmware. In my previous attempts to revive the old ipod, I had downloaded every os update and patch you could think of, but to no avail. It seemed rockbox might be my last hope to get the old thing up and running again.

So I spent some time today installing and configuring the new os, and from what I can tell the battery life has been improved, the playability of the songs has been restored, and I have way more fun games and stuff on there than I used to have. In many ways rockbox isn't as simple as the original os, but it works better, which is what it important. I might even get brave enough to throw it on my 5th gen ipod.

So if you didn't know that this month is dedicated to the nice men and women who write open source software, you know it now. Megan was telling me last night that she wants to inherit the old ipod if I get it back up and running, so she might just get it. Of course I'll have to get new cables for it, seeing as how I'm using the old cable for on-the-go charging of the new ipod. So there's still some stuff to work out, but I honestly couldn't be happier to have breathed new life into a dying friend. If only I could do the same for Turbo (he has been in really poor health lately. I worry about him a lot).

Anyway, if I could teach you one thing it would be this: don't throw out old electronics. There are so many things that can be saved, salvaged, modded, or repurposed. For every technology you would consider old, outdated, or impractical, (like laserdisc, betamax, 8 track, cassette tape, vhs, reel to reel, vinyl, and the list could go on and on) there is a group of rabid fans who have forums, websites and groups dedicated to the preservation of that very technology.

Maybe I shouldn't tell you not to get rid of your old electronic items. I am the beneficiary of people getting rid of their Ataris, Nintendos, and whatnot. Maybe I should say it like this, "If you have old gadgets that you're tired of and think you'll never use again, give them to me. If I can't find a use for them, I'll get them to someone who can." That's my promise. I'm James Badger and I approve this message. Now let's hit the meme.

Sixty Stinkin Questions

1. Where did your last kiss take place?
I always kiss Megan at the door before I leave for work.

2. Who knows a secret or two about you?
I think you'd be surprised to know that Megan knows a thing or two about me. But seriously, I don't keep too many secrets. A lot of the things that go on in my life are public knowledge. I throw them up on the internet where they can be read by anybody and everybody.

3. Four words to explain why you last threw up?
I can't remember. It seems like I've thrown up sometime between the cheese stick incident and now, but I honestly can't remember.

4. Have you ever burned yourself?
I burned the filth out of myself when I was fixing the Atari. I guess it had been a while since the last time I was soldering anything. I also burned Megan pretty badly on the same finger and hand that I burned myself. Now that's what you call, "skills."

5. What's crazy to you?
I dunno. I suppose a person who had lost the control of their own though processes and was delusional and a danger to themselves and society would seem pretty crazy to me. Also, the fact that John McCain tried to weasel out of the debate seems crazy. I had a lot more respect for him before he did that.

6. Favorite cuss word:
I tend to use "flip" and "fetch" a lot. Just kidding. I'm not from Utah. But seriously, my go-to interjectory word is "filth." You knew that, right?

7. Who is probably talking a load of crap about you right now?
The same person who is always talking a load of crap about me. I'd say their name, but I'm still paranoid of big brother.

8. Who is your hero?
Brady Quinn. He's dreamy. But seriously, I have lots of heroes. I look up to my friends, family, people I know from church, etc. I also have your standard sports/music/whatnot heroes like Mats Sundin or Rivers Cuomo.

9. Would you ever want to be a supermodel?
No. I wouldn't ever want people to look at me the way models get looked at. Their body is a commodity to be bought and sold, and they tend to lead unhappy and unfulfilling lives. They always have weight to lose, body parts to shape and tone, and they become "too old" too quickly. Modelling seems like it eats people up and spits them out the other side. Why would I ever subject myself to that?

10. Who is the most experimental person you know?
My old roommate, Jacob, grows bio-engineered tomatoes. I think he does plenty of experiments. That being said, I have no idea what you mean by this question. Are you asking which of my friends listens to Frank Zappa? Which of my friends has a part time gig as a crash test dummy? What are you asking?

11. Do you tell white lies?
I try not to lie. Most of my untruths are embellishments on the truth. So if that counts as a white lie, put me down for a "yes."

12. When is your next party?
With Megan every day is an adventure and every night is a party. And no, we don't get too many visitors. But I don't feel the need to party like I did when I was single, so I'm not sitting in the corner crying and wishing for the good ol' days. I don't party much, and that's fine with me.

13. Who do you want to be with right now?
I'll give you one guess and I'll bet you can get it. If guessed Megan, you have a firm grasp on the obvious.

14 Do you scratch when and where you want to scratch?
Pretty much.

15. How do you handle a break up?
I used to stop shaving and cutting my hair. I found that a thick covering of head and facial hair was a soothing cover for any hurt that might have been caused by some heartless harpy who didn't want to date me. But I don't think Megan will break up with me, so we're good now.

16. Your motivation for tomorrow?
Tomorrow Megan and I will still be house sitting in the boonies, but it will be Saturday so we'll probably go to DI, Bookmans, and the reptile store. I'll probably catch a little college football, and I'm sure Megan and I will watch an episode of Scrubs or two.

17. Do you know what you will wear tomorrow?
Without looking down I'm not even completely sure of what I'm wearing right now.

18. Last person to make you laugh?
Don Adams.

19. Last thing you ate?
The pizza I had last night. I didn't get breakfast this morning and I haven't had lunch yet.

20. Do u ever go a few days without changing your underwear?
Not any more. I used to be able to get away with it back in the day, but it gets too gross too quickly if I try to recycle underwear now.

21. Have you ever accidentally eaten an insect?
Yes, I've been mountain biking.

22. Do daddy long legs freak you out?
All spiders are disgusting and need to die.

23. Have you ever cleaned up someone else's vomit?
Nope. I don't have any kids yet. I have, however, spent a good deal of time cleaning up my own over the years.

24. Have you ever dropped food on the floor and eaten it?
Yup. And I saw the Mythbusters where they told me it was ok to do it.

25. Do you kiss your pets on the mouth?
Turbo isn't much of a kisser.

26. Do you talk baby talk?
Only in jest. People who use baby talk when they aren't talking to a baby or making fun of someone are disturbed and need a good shrink.

27. What serial killer do you find most disturbing?
I've always found serial killers both disturbing and fascinating. It's disturbing because the thought that there are people out there who kill in numbers with seemingly little or no motive can destroy your sense of safety and well-being. They're fascinating because you have to wonder what mental breakdown can cause them to act in a way that is the complete opposite of every ethic be it imposed by religion or society itself.

John Wayne Gacy has always been a disturbing one because he was a clown. I'm not afraid of clowns, but I can see why some people are. Clowns can be creepy. John Wayne Gacy was a psychopathic homosexual clown who killed 33 young men. That's about as creepy as a clown can get.

Ted Bundy is another scary one. He was fairly well educated and even studied a little psychology in college. He even worked at a suicide hotline for a while. He seemed like a normal enough guy, but in reality he was a psychopath who used his good looks to lure girls to his car where he would later kill them. He confessed to 30 murders, but some estimates on his victims run as high as 100.

I have always found Jeffrey Dahmer to be the most disturbing serial killer I have ever heard of. He was killing and dissecting animals at a young age. He became an alcoholic in his early teens. He had shown signs all his life that he was not in good mental health. The fact that he cannibalized and mutilated his victims makes him the most disturbing serial killer I can think of.

The other disturbing thing about serial killers is that the United States produces more of them than any other country. On a lost of serial killers broken down by country, the United States has about 100 even if you discount "angels of mercy" who are doctors that kill their patients in "humane" ways to save them from the pain of illness. The next closest country is the UK with only about 40 killers. Something about this country makes it possible for more people to go nuts than in any other country. I wouldn't eve be so bold as to guess at what it might be. But the fact remains: we have way more serial killers than anybody else. Now that you've all read more about serial killers than you would like, let's get to the next question.

28. Do you watch court tv?
No. I don't like to watch things that will bore me.

29. Would you ever work in a retirement home?
I hope I never have to. Retirement homes scare me. I'm a little bit of a gerontophobe. I fear old age and I'm afraid of old people I don't know. I was always good with my grandparents and other relatives, but I would not do well in a place where lots of old people are living out their last days in comparative misery.

I've gone with a few different youth groups to sing hymns in rest homes and whatnot, but it always scares me and I usually come away from the experience shaken and noticeably depressed. So the answer is no. I decline your offer of working in an old folks home.

30. Do you believe plants have feelings?
Yes. I discussed this last week. Plants have even less of a voice than animals. That's why I jab every vegetarian I see with a big salad fork. But seriously, there have been tests which show that plants may feel some level of pain.

31. Do you laugh at people with "bowl" haircuts?
When I was in junior high, the bowl cut was about the coolest haircut you could get. I myself had a bit of a bowl cut going. So if it's dorky now, give it five years. We're back into the 80's now, so the 90's should be right around the corner. Of course by then I'll be old enough to be curmudgeony and yell at the kids for not being "real" grunge.

32. Do you have nervous twitches?
I'm sure I do, but I don't usually take notice of such things. I usually have to have other people point them out for me.

33. Are you ever purposely irritating?
All the time. I should probably work on that.

34. If you could fly, where would you go first?
I would go as far from this library as possible. If there was any way that I could throw one fist in the air and break through the ceiling, that would be super duper. But don't you get me thinking about things that will never happen. It just makes ordinary life depressing in comparison.

35. Do you prefer boats or planes?
I'll take planes. I was an airplane nut when I was a kid. I checked out the same airplane book from our local library a billion different times.

36. Love or lust?
Who chooses lust? Love is always more satisfying. Generally speaking, people don't take lust if they have a real shot at love. It wouldn't make sense to. Lust is what you take when you can't find love and you stop caring about the consequences. Maybe that's a little altruistic on my part, but that's how I feel about it.

37. One best friend or 10 aquaintances?
I always seem to get this question. Megan is my best friend and I'd rather have her than 10 people who are cool to hang out with. It's a simple quantity/quality question and anyone who takes quantity needs to reevaluate their priorities.

38. Favorite food?
Megan makes delicious tacos. She makes lots of delicious foods, but I always look forward to taco Tuesday.

39. Do you believe that your first love never dies?
I'm glad my first love is dead. She's not dead, but I have no feelings for her. She's happily married with kids and I'm happily married. If I was still hung up on her I would not only be completely lame, but I would not be completely honest to Megan. So yeah, your first love will die out and thank goodness for it.

40. What upcoming event are you waiting and ready for?
I'm looking forward to Tuesday. Not only will I come home to the smell of spicy meat and taco toppings, but Megan will have her second interview for that job she interviewed for last week. It seems like she'll probably get it, but we're hoping it'll be a good job and that it'll pay her more than the last one did.

41. Current smell?
That library smell. The smell of paper, some old and some new. You know what a library smells like.

42. Do you get your nails done?
Nope. I have honored the request of all the women in the universe and have kept my nails short for a few years now. I think my long nail days are well behind me.

43. Most favorite person?
Questions like this make this meme less fun for everyone but Megan. She'll love hearing over and over that she's my favorite person. But if you're reading this, you probably knew she's my favorite and questions like this are too predictable. So there ya go. Megan, you're my favorite. Everyone else, buck up and let's hope you make it to the end.

44. What was the last thing you ordered at McDonald's?
A hot fudge sundae. It's the only thing I order there anymore.

45. Are you an emotional person?
Yeah. Sometimes I think having five sisters did something to me. I'm a little more sensitive and emotional than most guys you meet.

46. Do you like your name?
I have a fine name. It's a nice, normal name that has served me well thus far.

47. Do you have plans this weekend?
Sleep, college football, DI, Bookmans, the reptile store, and maybe burning stuff.

48. Do you work?
Now that's a loaded question if ever there was one. I've actually gotten a lot done this week, so yeah. I work. I work hard for the money. If you account for all the crap I take, I don't get paid enough for what I do.

49. Do you dance naked in your room?
Only for comedic effect.

50. When did your last relationship end?
The last relationship I had before Megan was in 2003. So it's been a while.

51. What are you listening to right now?
Absolute silence. This library is dead right now.

52. Biggest fear?
That I won't get that job I applied for and that I'll spend the next 30 years of my life here in the crap-taking factory.

53. How long have you been a part of myspace?
I got a myspace account in 2004 because I made an account for my band and they didn't have any friends yet. I check my myspace account about once every two weeks, just to clean out the porno ads. Myspace is not a good place.

54. Favorite place to be?
I actually like being home. Even when the house is a little messy, I'd still rather be home with my wife than anywhere else. It's nice to be married and settled down.

55. What are you wearing right now?
I'm 97% sure that I'm wearing pants and some sort of shirt. Beyond that, I couldn't tell you.

56. Are your toes painted?
Not that I know of.

57. Does anyone hate you?
Yeah. The boss man hates me more than any other person has ever hated me before. It's a new personal worst.

58. How many people do you trust fully?
Lots. I trust plenty of people. I trust my wife, my immediate family, my friends, random people who seem nice. I tend to be a pretty trusting guy. It bites me in the behind sometimes.

59. Did you have fun doing this?
Not really. I used to make fun of the questions a lot more than I do now. I think I've lost my edge. If anybody out these is officially sick of the Friday meme and wishes I would just do regular posts, lemme know. I might work something out for you.

60. Are you thinking of someone right now?
Yes. Her name is Megan. She's my wife. She's also the answer to a lot of the questions I get asked every week. That's not a bad thing. I just think it makes for boring reading if your name isn't Megan.

It's an Old Story: Good vs. Evil

It seems that I come in contact with the forces of evil on a nearly daily basis. I'm not talking about peers who have "fallen off the deep end" (a saying that has always struck me as a bit odd. Wouldn't it be more accurate to say that they've fallen into the deep end? Assume I'm telling you a story about a kid who falls into a swimming pool. Which part of the story would be more important: the exact part of the deck he slipped and fell from, or the deepness of the water he falls into? As a kid, the deep end referred more to the place where the water was deepest than it did the part of the deck where it indicated the water was 12 feet deep. It's all I'm sayin') who are pressuring me to join them in their evil ways. I'm not talking about staring into the face of demons and battling them with a sword. I'm talking about dealing with people who are bent on tearing me down and making my life miserable. My friend Dave described it thus: "There are two types of people in this world. There are builders and there are wreckers. Builders are people who are in your corner. People who will stand up for you and pick you up when you're down. Wreckers tear you down. You may not always see their influence, but even if they are only wasting your time they are of no use to you and ought to be avoided."

The builder/wrecker theory is a bit too simplistic to really define every person you will ever come into contact with, but you can't deny that you've seen builders and wreckers at work in your life. I see them all around me. Last week I picked up a note I saw on the ground. It was a page from someone's journal that they left for some unknown person to find. It said all sorts of things like: "You're a beautiful person and don't let anyone tell you otherwise" and "The world is a better place because you're in it." The girl included her email address because she wants the finder of the note (me) to write to her and let her know where the note went. I haven't emailed her yet, but I plan on doing so sometime soon. Her note was a definite pick-me-up and anyone who bothers to leave random words of kindness for complete strangers is definitely a builder and deserves to know that her good works are appreciated.

On the other hand, I am forced to deal with a particular person on a daily basis who seems to never tire of finding ways to make my life more miserable and difficult than it needs to be (If you're a longtime reader, you'll know who I'm talking about). This person is the reason I tell people I work in the crap-taking factory and that my job is chief crap-taker.

Things have gotten way out of hand over this last little while. The balance of justice in this place is completely out of whack. All my colleagues are unhappy and tired of the sorts of things that occur on a regular basis. We have called it incompetence, stupidity, and meanness but there seems little doubt now that we are not dealing with mere incompetence or stupidity, we are dealing with evil.

Satan's plan is and always has been to make people miserable like unto himself. The person who has undertaken the task of making me and all the people around me miserable is actually a very miserable person as well. The comparisons to Satan are easy to make and not entirely undeserved.

I have mentioned before that I have a chance of escaping this unfortunate situation into which I have been thrust. I am happy to know that there are nice people working on my behalf in an attempt to help me escape. In the end, the forces of good always thwart the forces of evil. It's not just a good plot line for literary works (though it certainly is a good plot line) it is also the way of the universe.

As we speak, the forces of evil are conspiring on multiple fronts to make my daytime hours an absolute terror. I am currently so angry that I am having a hard time making coherent thoughts. My only solace is that good always triumphs over evil. This is my mantra. This is what will keep my sanity.

I should also mention here that I am planning on writing a book loosely based on my horrible experiences here. I'm still trying to decide how the plot will flow, but it should be a joy to write once I get rolling. I want to write for therapeutic than anything else. I don't expect that I'm going to churn out the great American novel, but I do expect it to be satisfying.

Anyway, I know a lot of prayers are being sent up on behalf of Megan and I and I thank all those of you who pray for us. Heaven knows we need it (that's a funny phrase to throw in there. If you've been praying for us, of course heaven knows. That's where your prayers go). I thank you all for being good people and for being builders instead of wreckers. I promise I will never compare you to Satan.

Items of Disinterest

As some of you may know, I discontinued my old blog due to the fact that it was being read by people for whom its contents were never intended. This is not to say that my ego isn't tickled when some random person reads the blog and drops a comment or two (shout out to our anonymous European friend). I realize that by throwing my thoughts out into cyberspace without locking them up in any way that they are accessible to anyone and everyone. This would be absolutely fine with me if I had any assurance that my words would only be read by the sorts of people that can pick up what I'm puttin' down, can dig what I'm shovelin', and can smell what the rock is cookin' (that last one doesn't really fit with the others, but I needed a list of three. Trust me, without three items a list like that will always seem incomplete).

So what am I saying? I'm saying that the integrity of this blog's readership may be compromised in the same way it was on my old blog. I'm telling you this because I have actually gone back and censored myself by deleting certain things from old entries in an attempt to not criminize (bossspeak for "criminalize") myself by throwing words around too flippantly. So what does this mean for you and why do I bother to mention it? I think it only fair to warn you that the contents of this blog will hereafter contain only those items that are fit for universal consumption. I don't want to lock this blog down and make it harder for my family to read (heaven knows it's hard enough for them to read it as is what with all my rambling verbiage and whatnot) and I don't want to lock it down to the point that some casual blogger can't stumble across it and correct my spelling or tell me what they think about what I write. The point is: you will be getting an edited version of this blog from now on and although it may not be immediately apparent to you or seem to affect you in any way, I'll be dying a little inside. I just wanted you all to know.

The other item of disinterest should get its own heading. So I'll throw a space in here and boldify some text in order to let you know that I'm talking about something completely different now.

Free Things are Sometimes Better Than Their Non-Free Counterparts

Today I realized that I had absolutely no word processing software on my laptop. So what could I do? I could pick up the latest and (according to Microsoft, which has always been a trustworthy corporation) greatest version of Office for a mere $150 (a low low price available only to those with the educational discount) or I could download Open Office for free. I became familiar with Open Office back in 2004 because back then although Khmer had been added to the Unicode library of languages, Microsoft did not support it in their latest version of Office. If you type more than 3 words in Khmer using Microsoft Office, it will crash, freeze, or break down and cry. You can write a book in Khmer in Open Office and it will work absolutely fine.

So I downloaded the latest and greatest version of Open Office (available at http://www.openoffice.org) and was happy to find that not only can I save documents in a number of Microsoft compatible formats, I can also save them as PDF's, uploadable web pages, etc. Open Office is an open source freely downloadable program that actually works better than its $150 counterpart in a number of ways. They have programs that are comparable and compatible with Word, Excel, Access, and all those other overrated Microsoft Office programs. I'm not going to bore you with the details, but you should all be able to sleep better at night knowing that there are communities of smart people who dedicate their lives to giving you things for free that others want to charge you large amounts of money for.

I should also mention that I am writing this blog entry using Firefox. Firefox is another freely available open-source program that is better than the corporate counterpart. Internet Explorer actually has a hard time running the blogger spell check program, but Firefox has a built-in spell check that checks your spelling as you type. Also, Firefox has had tabbed browsing since 2001 (they weren't the first, but they got on board early in the game) and Microsoft just barely jumped on that bandwagon this year. And I haven't even begun to mention how much safer Firefox is in terms of not picking up adware, malware and the like. Also, I got an add-on for Firefox that blocks the sidebar ads on most websites. So when I'm looking at facebook I don't have to look at those American Apparel ads featuring women dressed like strumpets of the 1980s (coincidentally, Strumpets of the 1980s would be a fantastic name for an indie band that releases one moderately good album then breaks up over creative differences all in the course of a single calendar year). When I'm looking at my video gaming sites, I don't have to look at ads for dating websites that feature scantily clad women who would never be caught dead talking to the types of men who have accounts on dating websites. Basically, by downloading a simple add-on, I have fewer people trying to sell me things as I stroll about in cyberspace.

Now some of you may be thinking (who am I kidding? None of you are thinking this), "Isn't Internet Explorer a freely downloadable program, too?" The answer to that is: yeah, it is. But take into account the fact that internet explorer is not the most popular browser in the world because it's the best product on the market. It's the most popular browser because Microsoft spent a lot of time trying to make it mandatory and there are a lot of people out there who aren't even aware of the alternatives or the many benefits the alternatives have to offer.

So here's what I'm saying: I love open source software. I encourage everyone to take a little time and find out if they couldn't be saving money and sanity by using freely available software made by nice people who are striking back at the man and making the world a better place. And now I sound like a cyberhippie, so I'll stop.