Lights, Camera, Action!

All my kids love Star Wars (and, of course, so do I). DS 1 and I have recently begun learning about stop-motion animation. The interest was spawned from watching some Legos Star Wars movies on YouTube (also on the Legos website). We watched these really cool movies and said to ourselves, "Hey... why can't we do that?" Of course, the Internet videos are much more polished and only serve as inspiration for us to learn how to make well-thought out and smoothly executed videos.

See below for pics of DS1's first attempt. I am really proud of him because he wrote out a screenplay for this movie. He even drew story bords. I was highly impressed.

Movie set.

We threw a couple of space ships in the background for effect.

DS1 posing, practicing for future Academy Award. DS2 looking on in background (future gaffer, maybe?)

DS1 again, soaking up the spotlight.

Here is DS1's first creation. Keep in mind, he did it himself with minimal input from Dad.

CS OUT

A Few of My Favorite Things

Christmas time is the perfect time to reflect on the things in one's life that bring joy. Few top my list better than my kids. Put them together with popcorn popping and hot cocoa and you get a memory that can't be beat.

See pictures of DS3 enjoying the wondrous magic of the hot air popcorn popper. I must say, it is like magic!








I am lovin' the holidays!

CS OUT

Pimp My Asphalt Plant

I have seen skins on just about everything: phones, computers, and even cars. But this takes the cake. The customer I am doing work for right now has applied custom skins to their 300-ton asphalt storage silos. It's bizarre in a very cool way.

Check it out:






Neat, huh?

CS OUT

More Travel

I'm in Fort Myers right now. Yes, it is pretty here - I won't deny it. I can't really enjoy it though. I'm at an asphalt plant. When I'm not there, I'm at a hotel working on other projects on my computer.

I actually am not complaining; I just wanted to blog something. I am going to try to blog every day - even if it's just to say what I'm doing. I enjoy blogging and the only way I'm going to get good at it is to do it regularly.

So there you go.

Every day is a new opportunity to do things right, right?

Ok, that's enough for now - plus I have plant operators looking over my shoulder as I type.

Much love to my DW, DS1, DS2, DD, DS3, and DS4.

Fall Festival

Every October our kids church department holds a fall festival. It's a safe alternative to trick-or-treating in a neighborhood where you may or may not know the people whose doors upon which your kids are knocking. The festival is really fun, having ten or fifteen inflatable attractions for the kids to play and jump on. I'm talking about attractions thatare the size of a small house. It is a really big deal, and lots of fun.

At the end of the night, the kids get to walk through the building and accumulate HUGE wads of candy of all sorts. It's a lot of fun.

My mother-in-law and I were in charge of taking people's pictures, so here are a few of my favorites.

Papa and DS3 both looking pensive.

Ema and Papa looking cute.

DW and myself also looking cute.

DW and DS4 looking incredibly adorable.

CS OUT

You gotta love Legos

Yes, I know... it's been forever since my last blog entry. Whatever.

LEGOS!!!

My boys and I are seriously getting into Legos, specifically the Star Wars variety. I am currently in Orlando, Florida on a job and took a moment to run down to Downtown Disney. The Lego store there is AWESOME. I got some stuff that will help with our future Lego madness. Checkout the lego coolness:

This is the Milennium Falcon Collector's Edition (over 10,000 pieces) that I would give my left (insert body part here) to have.

Here's a close-up view of the cockpit, complete with minifigs Han, Chewie, Leia, and C-3PO.

I don't know wht this guy is called, but he's very cool.

This is the a-la-carte section of the store. I was *extremely* intimidated by this area. I couldn't decide what to get and there were *so* many people.

The newer version of the death star is exceedingly cool; it has mini-scenes in which to play out various bits of the movies.

Not sure what this robot's name was, but he rocks.

Sweet-looking sea life Legos across the walkway.

Tell me this isn't cool. I mean, really.

It's the smith family Lego. I am amazed at the imagination of some people.

And look inside Mr. Lego's camera!

I am lovin' bein' a nerd.


CS OUT

Riding My Bike

I rode my bike to work on Friday. I have been saying that I was going to do it, and I finally did it. I have to say, it was not the easiest thing I have ever done - but it wasn't as hard as I thought it was going to be, either.

I left the house at 7:20 AM and arrived at work at 8:15 AM. I had intended to leave the house earlier, but there was a host of things that I didn't plan for when I was ready to leave. For instance, I forgot to find my bike helmet in advance - I spent 10 minutes looking for it. I realized that I was going to have to take clothes and hygiene products and had to find some place to stash them for the ride... things like that slowed me down considerably.

I consider all these things excellent lessons for tomorrow. I bought a bike rack to stow some gear and I left a few hygiene articles at work. I will be taking some clothes to work today (Sunday - this will post on Monday) so that I have less to carry. Another thing that I will be doing in the future is leaving some of the heavier computer articles at work, like my power supply; I'm going to purchase a second PS to leave at home. Those things are heavier than you realize, until you have to lug them on your back.

I am so incredibly excited. I am giving ZERO of my hard-earned dollars to the money-grubbing oil people and I am eating up ZERO natural resources and I am becoming more fit in the process!

ROCK ON

CS OUT

Biggest Loser Update

Check it out.

I am down to 210.8 lbs from 231.5.

WOO HOO!!!

That is a loss of 20.7 lbs, or 9.41 kilos (for my Aussie friends)!

Oh yeah.... I'm doin' it...

That's 8.94% weight loss so far. Unfortunately, I am not in the lead for our contest... but am still wonderfully excited about my progreess!

CS OUT

Ignorant people...

... I have no use for them.

Specifically, I have no use for people who have no regard for other people's time and trouble. Also, rude people. They make the list.

I say this because yesterday I dealt with a man who embodied all these traits. DW found a Nintendo DS Lite on Craig's list that was a very good deal. We have been wanting one for a while (I would like to say it was for the kids, but actually I had my eye on it) and have been watching for a good deal on a new or used one. So we e-mailed this man and expressed our interest. I later called him and we arranged a time and place to meet. The meeting place was about an hours' drive from our home.

The time came to drive and make the transaction and we headed out. We were about half-way to our destination when I realized I had a text message on my phone. It was said DS person. Here is his message: "Sold DS. Sorry." Needless to say, I was dumbstruck. Here I was, 45 minutes into our drive to meet the man, and now there was no point. As it turns out, he had sent the message an hour earlier and I had not noticed it. That's not the point, though, is it? We had a deal.

So I call Mr. Butthole and he says, "My friend saw it on Craig's List and new it was mine, so he said he wanted to buy it. So I sold it to him instead. Sorry." Now, I understand that a person can do whatever they want with their stuff, but that is just downright wrong. After I explained to him how I saw that as totally wrong and not fair, he continued, "I did what I did, and I'm not sorry." Then he hung up on me.

What a crappy feeling... that somebody would completely not have any sense of reason. He didn't even have the courtesy (or the nards) to call me. Instead, he texted me. If for no other reason, he should have called just to make sure I got the message... so I didn't drive over an hour for nothing!

Nice. Ignorant people. Got no use for them.

CS OUT

Labor-saving devices

You wanna know another thing that bugs me? It's how sometimes those things in life that are supposed to save you time and effort... and then they don't. Or, even worse, they cause more work!

The object of this rant happens to be a pull-behind rotary spreader for my tractor. I bought it a long time ago, thinking I would have a great need for it. Well, I tried to use it yesterday; I wanted to spread some ant killer because they are taking over our yard. The very first thing it did was dump the poison all out in one large pile right where it sat. The gate that is used to meter the stuff out was rusted in the full open position. Nice.

So I get out the WD-40 and get to work loosening it up. I get it working, and scoop the stuff up off the ground and put it back in the spreader. I'm ready to go. Once I get rolling, I look back and see that the ant killer has all drained back out of the spreader. The door opened all the way up again, because the mechanism to hold it in place was house in plastic and cracked in half. Nice.

So I went REALLY fast and spread the rest of the ant killer and said, "fooey."

Call me crazy, but I think that labor-saving devices should not cause MORE work!

CS OUT

West Edmonton Mall, Part II

I went back to the mall, so I thought I would post more WEM pics.

This is the indoor roller coaster I mentioned in anearlier post. I rode it, by the way. I am an avid coaster-rider, and this one is definitely a good one. I was actually surprised at how entertaining the coaster proved to be.

Okay, I saw this whale in the mall and had to take a picture for my kids. Just call me Jonah. <"Jonah was a prophet, ooh - ooh...">

I previously posted a picture of this demonstration area; here are a few pics of it in use!

I know I posted pictures of this ship previously, but I was enchanted by its coolness. Here is a same-level pic:

Here again is the dragon of which I posted pictures of previously:

Check this out! How would you like to be in line to buy your movie ticket and have this guy show up in a bad mood?

And finally, it's yours truly trying out a Segway. These things are totally cool. I had a blast for the ten-minute test-drive I took. If I had a spare $5500, I might have bought one!

CS OUT

Am I Stupid?

... I never used to think so. I am seriously questioning that line of reasoning, however. It is 4:30AM and I am sitting at Salt Lake City Airport, waiting to board a 6:00AM flight. I did not sleep a wink last night, because I was afraid I would sleep through my alarm and miss my flight.

UGH.

I had to stay over in Salt Lake last night because my only other choice for making it home quickly was to catch the "red eye," which would have me catching a 3:00AM flight. In retrospect, I probably should have taken that flight; either way I would sleep like crap, but I'd be home sooner.

Oh well; at least I'm coming home.

CS OUT

Where I do not want to live...

... is Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. Why? Take a look at the pictures below. What you see there are electrical outlets for people - normal, everyday people - to plug their cars in. No, I don't mean that everyone here is environmentally responsible and is making use of electric cars. These outlets are placed in the parking lots of hotels so that customers' car engines don't freeze overnight. I kid you not; it gets so cold here in the winter that every car here has a block heater installed to keep them from freezing and cracking when they are not in use.




This is a pretty place, but, um... no. Not gonna live here. Ever.

CS OUT

Shout out to DW

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MY HONEY!!!

I hope you are making the best of your day! I'm sorry I can't be home on your special day, but I promise when I get home we will have a day of doing only things that you would like to do!

Smoocher!

DH

CS OUT

West Edmonton Mall

Today I visited the West Edmonton Mall. The place is gigantic. I was completely overwhelmed by the its complexity; I could barely find the movie theater I was looking for. When I did find it, I was blown away by the presentation in the theater lobby as well.

The first thing I saw when I walked in the front door (I think), was a humongous pirate ship. Yes, I said a "pirate ship," as in Yo, Ho, Yo Ho, and what not. Wow. How cool! In the same pool was a theater for sea life exhibitions and a bumper boat ride.

When I rounded the next corner I saw the biggest wave pool I have ever seen. Along side it was a full-fledged water park. All of this was still inside the mall. Yikes... Plus, I still had to walk five minutes to get to the theater I was looking for.

I did not even get to the side of the mall that housed the amusement park. What a cool place. I will be returning before I come home from Canada.

Check out a few pics:

Here's the sweet pirate ship:
("Aargh")

Here's one end of the wave pool:

Bumper boats:

Sea life exhibition theater:

And, as I was in line to get my movie ticket, I was startled to have this monster make a stink overhead:

What a cool place!

CS OUT

This is new...

It is currently 12:12 AM. I am in a hotel in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. I may have to leave the country to go back to the states tomorrow.

I arrived here this evening (after about 12 hours of travel) without the proper paperwork. I have never been asked for this paperwork before and therefore did not know I was required to present it to the Canadian Immigration people.

Happy, Joy!

So, for the two of you reading my blog, remember your paperwork when you travel for business!

CS OUT (of the country)

Me & The Boys

Okay, camping didn't happen. That was sad. But the boys (ds1, 2, & 3) and I did something just about as cool. We (I) threw the bikes on the back of the car and headed toward our local historical park, where lots of cool bike trails have been paved (mostly) back through the woods.

Honestly, I enjoyed some of the most relaxing yet energetic time I have experienced in a while. The boys got new helmets & gloves , and they looked too cool in them as they found every mud hole they could find to splash through.


Take a look:

Here are fuzzy (but full of action) mud puddle photos:

Here, we have some local wildlife:

And then, of course, the wild cats on the prowl that don't know they are protected here:

What can I say here? Makes me so proud... [sniff] ... can I have a tissue (take that however you want...)

I love my kids... but you already know that, don't you?

CS OUT

Biggest Loser

As of May 22, I have lost 14.1 pounds. I am using TheDailyPlate.com to track calories and I am doing Power 90, as I have blogged about previously. So far, so good! If I win the BL bet, I am going to buy a canoe to take on vacation in St. george's Island.





CS OUT

Memorial Day Weekend

I was supposed to take my two older boys (8 & 7) camping this weekend. Ds2 got sick, and I cancelled the trip. Poor kid; I hate it when he or any of my kids doesn't feel well.

It's a shame; we were al really looking forward to "roughing it" (tent plus electric and water) for three nights at Cloudland Canyon State Park. But it wasn't in the cards for this weekend. We will do something else that's fun in its place, but we really enjoy our "guy" camping trips.

Ds2 seems to be doing somewhat better this morning, but I still think it was a good call to cancel the trip this time.

I think we'll do some bike riding at home andthen see a movie - not the same, but still fun.

CS OUT

Traveling Annoyance

Here's just a little info FYI.

If you're ever traveling from a small- to mid-size airport and you like to arrive early to avoid the stress and hassle of rushing for a plane, don't go through security during their slow period. They will almost certainly "randomly" select you for "added security measures," a.k.a. the pat-down. They also open up all your stuff and go through it as though you were Osama himself.

I don't know if they have a quota and when they're slow they have to do this to every poor slob who passes through the metal detector, or if they just have the time and want to practice. Either way they were so thorough that I got nervous when they put on the latex gloves.

Sheesh. I hate air travel these days (unless I'm doing the flying, of course ;) ).

CS OUT

Power 90, Day 2

I did my second day of Power 90 today. It should have been my third, but I didn't have the necessary equipment necessary to complete day 2, so I will pick it up tomorrow, since my order for resistance bands has arrived at the house.

The workout kicked my butt. My nemeses are power yoga and crunches. I'm confident, though, that I will keep it up. I can feel a difference, even though I probably won't see a difference for some time.

CS OUT

Airline Pet Peeve

Ok, I tend to over-think things. Anyone who has spent any length of time with me knows that. But I think that some things are just plain dumb.

I have have been traveling a great deal lately, especially via the major airlines. I don't have any major complaints, considering what they do and how many people are traveling these days. Even my bags usually show up where they're supposed to be when they're supposed to be there. But there is one thing that has been bugging me lately. It's a teeny-tiny, minuscule thing that I'm sure nobody but me notices, but it's wrong - and I want it fixed. Now.

Everybody who has ever flown on an airplane has heard the pre-written, recited speeches that the attendants are required by the FAA to give. In particular, I am referring to the one near the end of the trip when the attendant asks you to turn off your electronic devices prior to landing. He or she will give instructions to turn off your devices and leave them off for the "duration" of the flight. Well, hey - the duration is pretty much up. We're looking at remainder here. Like I said - it's tiny and no one but me notices it.

It seems that no one in the airline industry has a grasp of the difference between the words "duration" and "remainder." To me, there is a big difference. Get it right. It's not limited to one airline, either. They all do it. Is it wrong in the script? Or is everyone just that dumb? I'd like to know.

Ok, you can laugh at me now for totally being weird.


CS OUT

Power 90, Day 1

Wow.

I completed day 1 of the Power 90 program. It is very intense, but I made sure to slow it down and not over-do it; I am really out of shape. As I recall, the last time I tried the program, I worked really hard at maintaining the pace of the people on the TV. I blew myself out. I got really sore and then didn't ever do it again.

In retrospect, I think perhaps my problem the first time was that I had an unrealistic view of my fitness level then. I received a cold slap in the face when I tried to keep up with people who actually were in good shape, so I quit. Nice, huh?

Well, I am not making that mistake this time; I know it's going to be hard. And now I have started. And I can't wait to do tomorrow's session, because I didn't exceed my limitations today. Don't get me wrong - it was hard and I couldn't keep up. But I did it. And I will keep doing it until I can keep up.

CS OUT

Also, I weighed in: 231.5. Not on the "official" scale, of course, but at the hotel gym. See "before" pics below. I know this is offensive but I don't like it either, and I figure if I show my fat self to everybody in the world then I may actually be motivated enough to do something about it.

I used to (quite recently, in fact) look in the mirror and think to myself, "I don't look too bad." Then I took the pictures shown below. I will not think that again.