He is Risen!

It is Good Friday. That seems like a misstatement, huh, since it is the day Jesus was crucified? It is good, though, since that was the day he paid the price for our sin, and it leads to Resurrection Sunday. So, we can all say, "He Is Risen!".


Yup, the grandkids are coming over tonight. No, I don't know what we have planned, but we always find something to do.

Sometimes, the Preacher's head gets too big, but that's not always true. It has been too small in the past. Check it out below. And you can see why I got braces a few years ago.


We are watching Smash as I write this. We are sad it is canceled, but we'll catch the last few episodes until it leaves us. Have any of y'all been watching it?

Would you give your kid a middle name of Mungo? Someone did. Can you guess who? Read this and see if you were right. I had no clue. There are some other different middle names mentioned in the video.

At work, I read about a photo arrangement, but the photo was blocked. Still, the name sounded interesting, so I saved the link. Now, as I look at the actual design, it seems a bit too 'out there' for me. What do you think? Would you do something like this? What about you, Lynds? Brenda?

[Friday update] Oh yeah, boyz. (You read that with the appropriate inflections in your voice, right?) Today's commute was practically perfect. The problem with light traffic days is that, usually, you are not part of them because you are enjoying the same day off as everyone else. So, you don't get to drive all the way to work without even tapping the brakes because you are sleeping in. I have to work 1/2 day, so I came in at my normal time and lurved the drive time.

Jeoparty Is Behind Me

That's a strange title today, right? I had to teach the Project Manager training group yesterday, and I used the Joeparty game to do so. Isn't that called Jeopardy, you ask? Well, I wanted to avoid any copyright issues, so I called mine Jeoparty. We did not have time to play the full game. My chapter involved some math and a few of the attendees really struggled with the algebra involved. Is it algebra? If you have a formula A = B / C and you know A and B, you need to determine the value of C. Algebra, right?

Have any of you ever been challenged to create a joke. Let me tell you. It is not easy. It's probably not successful, either, but here is my response to Preacher Bro.
A Preacher and an Architect walk into a bar.
The Preacher says, "I can't go in there. Proverbs 23 says 'Who has woe? Who has sorrow? Who has strife? Who has complaints? Who has needless bruises? Who has bloodshot eyes? Those who linger over wine....'"
The Architect responded, "I have to go in. 1 Corinthians 3 says 'According to the grace of God which has been given to me, as a wise architect, I have laid the foundation, but another builds upon it. But let each see how he builds upon it.'"
"How are we going to solve this?" asked the Preacher.
"Well, Proverbs talked about people lingering over wine. It doesn't mention beer." said the Architect. "Plus, when I drink it, I often say, 'Jesus, that tastes good.'"
Nonplussed, the Preacher replied, "Now, I for sure can't go in. You shouldn't talk like that."
"What if I could get everyone inside to praise the Lord?" queried the Architect.
"That would help" said the Preacher.
The Architect yelled to the bar, "I'm buying the next round."
"Whoo hoo!" "Praise the Lord!" "Thank you, Jesus!"

I hope this cartoon doesn't crash. It uses a project management term called crashing, which involves adding additional people to a project to finish it early.


I heard that Preacher Bro's family enjoyed seeing childhood photos of him, so here's another. You can see that Aunt Bernice and Julier (as my grandmother used to pronounce it) are up there with the family. I guess Dad took this shot using a telephoto lens since Preacher Bro is looking for him using binoculars.


Need some bacon news? This is for anyone not living in NZ, of course, because I do not even think of anyone there when I think of bacon. For the rest of you, though, there's donuts, onion rings, nuts, brownies, and cinnamon rolls.

Teacher Daughter guessed that Philip would say that he is a federal agent three times on tonight's Survivor episode. In previous shows, he has said that numerous times per night. Tonight, though, she missed. He only said it once. Otherwise, a non-surprising episode.

[Thursday update] We are keeping the GRANDS on Friday night and then some game time at JV+KLIK on Saturday afternoon. Sounds nice, huh? So, to get ready, and since I only have to work 1/2 day on Friday (Alright! It really is a Good Friday),  we are going to mount the shower doors. It will be finished! We should be done before the kiddos arrive.

I'd Like a Coke, but not actually a Coke.

Those of you who did not grow up in the South may not have grown up calling all soft drinks "Coke". So, you are in a restaurant and you say, "I'd like a Coke, please," and they ask, "OK. What kind," and you say "Dr. Pepper." Nobody would think twice about such a conversation. Out in AZ, though, the generic term is soda. Check this graphic to see what different regions call them.

Do you want to see the Lower Yellowstone Falls? So did the family in 1972 or so. You can see that IT Sis fell asleep against Mom, and Preacher Bro must have sat underneath an eagle.


It's almost Easter. Will you participate in any Easter Egg hunts? I think we will not since the GRANDS will be going to D-I-L's family celebration. That doesn't stop me from have an egg-themed granddaughter-inclusive CoV.



My son has a history of photo-bombing. Look at this photo of him crashing a shot of the folks. You can see the intended original shot on the left. I saw this dog photo-bomb story today and thought you would find it funny.

Do y'all ever watch any TED videos? Some of them are really interesting. This one is good, talking about why optical illusions actually work. It makes sense.

[Wednesday update] I forgot to mention that one of our guilty pleasures is back with the new season on TV. Hell's Kitchen. Yup, Gordon Ramsey returns with his "Oh my gawwwd" and other more colorful phrases. We should go find that place next time we are in L.A.

[Wednesday update] Today, my commute was more like Dad's comment yesterday than my post yesterday. That's good. I don't think I had to get below 70 the whole way. Yeah, baby. I just want to get to work. I like it that much. Well, it's more of a case of disliking stop-and-go traffic.

It's Called Semana Santa in Mexico

Since Easter is this coming Sunday, this is Semana Santa in Mexico. It includes Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, Holy Saturday and Easter Sunday. Maundy refers to the washing of the feet. Gross, huh? That would be moan-day for me. Anyway, it is a special time for Catholics in MX.

The other day, I was talking to someone who had never heard of 3d sidewalk art. I put a link in an earlier blog post to see some examples, but it did not include a photo of how weird those things look when you see it from a wrong angle. Here is a site that shows you.

While it is nice that we can watch recorded programs from any room, it is not nice that we keep losing set recordings. The dumb system doesn't really tell us when it skips recording. We may have to call our provider sometime. Until then, I am well versed in snide remarks.



When we went to the place in the next photo, we posed on these rocks and then afterward, noticed that there were small snakes all around in them. In mu mind, it seems like when then started saying, "Dad, they're looking at us" about almost everything. I think this is the Rio Grande Gorge just outside of Taos.


We are watching Amazing Race as I type this. We liked the look of the Ford SUVs they are driving in Botswana and looked at Ford's website to see if that is how the new Explorers or Expeditions look. Nope. No model looks like what we are seeing. OK, maybe it is a model not available in the USA. Sure enough, it is a Ford Everest, which is not offered here in the USA.

I added the final tiles to the shower stall so we can install the shower doors. I grouted it today, so we should be ready to finish in a couple of days. Whoo hoo.

This is getting too long. I'll tell you about more stuff in my next entry. [Monday update] Except that now, I have forgotten what things I was going to publish tomorrow. Oh well, I'll probably come up with new stuff by then.

I Made It to First Base

Well, I actually sat behind third base at the Spring Training game. We went as a team for our monthly team event (last month was the go-karts, remember?). We had a good time and the seats were in the shade (which helped us enjoy it more). I bought a bottled water there and it cost $4. Nice markup, huh? Here is the view from our seats.



I did see a nice fielding of a ground ball and you can read the phrase I yelled out in today's CoV.



How about another question that no one cares about? What would happen if everyone on earth stood as close to each other as possible as they could and jumped, everyone landing on the ground at the same instant? You can find out here.

There was a time when Preacher Bro made his own pistol for black powder shooting. Can you believe it? Maybe it was this experience that planted the seed? I think this is in NM somewhere. He's the dude in the brown shirt.



We just watched a Shark Tank episode where these dudes pitched a sushi concept, and there is already a franchise of theirs in town. I may have to go check it out sometime.

[Friday update] I got nothing new. Have a great weekend.

Can You Read?

First, let's take a look at the ponchos we saw yesterday. Here the guys are at the town square in Santa Fe. I am guessing this is from 1970 or so.



Then, we can check out a conversation between a granddaughter and her father.



Have you ever wondered if you somehow managed to make a stereo travel at twice the speed of sound, would it sound backwards to someone who was just casually sitting somewhere as it flies by? Someone did, and here is what he found. He does real research into the question and includes findings on a sonic boom, a disintegrating stereo and how much backward music you would actually hear.

Check out these Russian dancers and the weird illusion their outfits cause. I like it.

I will be spending tomorrow afternoon with my team at a Spring Training game, sitting out in the nice warm sunshine. I will certainly be taking my cap and maybe an umbrella.

NZ, PF, and JR

OK, NZ Niece, it seems you are challenging me to find some photos of a place y'all have never been? Sure, you are in some foreign country now with tons of photos I cannot match while all I have is the grandeur of Amarillo, TX. Anyway, that is cool that you went to the Tower in San Antone. I have not been to the city itself in almost 8 years, and some 45 years since I saw the tower. Thanks for sharing.

OK, let's go to the Petrified Forest. Let's see your picture from there. Well? Anyway, this one is from around 1970, so another oldie but goodie. Nice of those two people in ponchos to come help us, huh? Oh wait. That's Architect Bro (AB) and me. I suspect you will see those ponchos again soon. [Wednesday update] No, I do not have that poncho anymore. I cannot say if AB has his or not.


Another thing you will see soon is another Clarity of Vision comic. For now, though, here is today's. Yes, we are going to a Spring training game on Thursday. No, I don't know which teams.


Did anyone watch Bates Motel yet? It is a modern re-imagining of Psycho. I am not sure of it yet.

I just got back from a Chorale concert. It went fairly well. I don't know when the next one is. I know it is not this weekend (because we sang last Sunday and today) and not next weekend (because it is Easter).

Sometime in the last few days (I don't remember when), we watched J.R.'s funeral on Dallas. Wow, even the credits made you nostalgic. It played the old theme music and had several scenes with J.R. walking away from the camera while putting his cowboy hat on. The episode was good, too. It had Jerry Jones and Mark Cuban on it.

[Wednesday update] Well, Spring officially arrived this morning. You can tell since we are dropping our temps all the way down to 86F. Of course, in the upper Midwest, they are waking up to -5F, so I guess I'll take mid-80s.

Following, Fairs and Funny Links

Are y'all watching The Following on Fox? It is one weird program. Now, all the stars on it are only one degree away from Kevin Bacon. We watched three episodes in two days, so we are creeped out (by the way, autocorrect tried to change this to crapped out. Sorry, Microsoft. That is not what I am trying to say)..

We are also caught up on The Walking Dead. Another creepy show. This one is about zombies, which seem to be a current fad. In fact, I also just read Zomblog on my Kindle about a person who kept a diary during his zombie-apocalypse.



Let's keep going with these old memories. Did you know there was a World's Far in San Antonio back in the 60s? Yup. It was called the HemisFair, and we went there during its run. Don't we look like we are having fun? Actually, it was fun, but you know how it is when parents keep taking photos.


Check out this link that I sent to my dentist. I think these would be hilarious.

It's Heating Up Already

It is already getting too hot here. Well, too hot for this early in the year. Luckily, it is backing off a bit now. It did not even reach 90 yesterday, even though it reached 95 earlier in the week.
[Monday update] I heard on the radio that there is a big winter storm warning for the middle and northeast portions of the country. It obviously bypassed the southwest region.

I am writing this while waiting to dress for tonight's East Valley Chorale concert. We leave in about 1-1/2 hrs, so that's plenty of time. We also have a concert on Tuesday night (instead of practice). I hope that my allergies allow me to sing. I can at least stand up there and smile.
[Monday update] I was able to sing and it was a really good concert. And we sounded really good in this auditorium. Dad had to bail out midway through due to a recent scorpido sting on his foot. He was fine once he got the weight off that foot.

We had a great time at Bella's birthday party Saturday. We ended up being the only party at a local farm and played a lot. You can check the photos on Facebook.

As I was deciding what links/photos/etc to put in this post, something made me think of our family's time in Guadalajara, MX. And that made me remember one of my favorite Mexican photographers, Ricardo Alarcon. Here is a shot he took in downtown GDL, a place we visited numerous times.


Speaking of family, a family friend recently misspoke and said TMJ instead of TMZ. You can imagine that I wanted to remember that for a CoV topic.


Look at this furniture. Doesn't it make you feel like the photo is messed up? Nope. He made it that way.

[Monday update] Listen, I've got a lot to do, so we can't just sit around talking like we normally do. Maybe we will have more time tomorrow. No promises, though.

As the Beatles sang.. I'm Getting Better Everyday

Yep, I'm feeling better, although I am still sniffling and sneezing a bit. I should be able to sing by Sunday.

Well, we've got a theme going with these old shots. We're traveling back to the halcyon days of 2004. A shot of Stonehenge from way back when. What is halcyon, anyway?

Can you believe they chose a Pope so quickly? I know predictions said it would not take long, but I did not expect it after only five votes. In fact, I was not even ready with a CoV until today. Sorry for the delay.



We hit Mickey D's for dinner tonight with the GRANDS. We went to a different location so they could play on the playground. At one point, they were playing with a little girl there and I heard Bella on the slide saying, "When you hear the roar, we hurry out of the slide." So, I thought I would scare Bella and I roared. Instead, Bella just said, "That didn't scare me," but the other girl really started crying. Her mom had to climb up inside and calm her down. I apologized a bunch of times.

The Games Gang played Small World at lunch today and I won on the first time I ever played it. It was medium fun, but took us 1.5 hours, so I cannot afford to play it too often.

It is bedtime, my friends, so I will not even make a pretense at saying goodbye until we meet again on the morrow.

[Friday update] Whoa! I totally spaced on getting this posted because I had meetings starting at 7:45, so I was preparing for them. Here you go. Better late than never, is what I always say (you may disagree with that statement when it comes to this blog).

Pre-Friday Profundities

Have you ever wondered about the floor plans of homes you see on TV? No? Me neither. However, it intrigued this interior designer enough to get started, and now he has created several. Take a look and see which ones you remember.

Didn't that make your eyes watery with pleasant memories? No? Me neither. However, my sentence reminded me of a photo that I converted to watercolor. It is from Ft. Ross in Northern CA.


Speaking of watercolors (I was. I don't know about you), here is a blog by a dude who was an illustrator back in the days depicted on Mad Men (I don't watch it. I don't know about you).

Speaking of mad men, doesn't going through security at airports make you kind of mad (not me, of course. I don't know about you)? Let's inspect our inspectors, the TSA.



Well, if no one took away your water, check out what you can do with it. Water wave forms in mid-air, anyone? That is really cool.

Survivor tonight was surprising. It involved an event that I don't think I have seen before, and we have watched every season. If you missed it, go catch it On Demand. Based on the TV previews that had already shown, I was correct in who I thought would be voted off.

[Thursday update] The GRANDS are spending the night tonight. It is Spring Break for them and MBH, so a Thursday night is no problem. It would not surprise me at all if we hit Golden Arches for dinner and let them enjoy the playground for a bit. The pool is not yet warm enough. We should have a good time.

[Thursday update] And of course, this weekend is Bella's b-day (both the party and the actual birthday). We'll be having a grandchild-filled next few days. Whoo hoo! We always have a good time with them.

[Thursday update] OK, my mind is already thinking work-type thoughts, so I will wrap it up. Have a good day.

Sick and Tired of Being Sick and Tired

I stayed home from Chorale practice this evening. I have sneezing and coughing, and would not have been able to sing anyway. So, I am vegging on the couch with the dogs. I don't know where the cat is, but that's OK. We do have a concert on Sunday, so hopefully I will be better by then.

Thanks for sharing the happy memories of Cindy with me yesterday. I really have no idea why she was still on my mind when I woke up. I am not usually very good at remembering dreams, and as I mentioned, I only remember that one scene out of the dream. Weird, but none of should be surprised at that.

I thought about layoffs and severance packages and wondered if it could ever happen that someone would fall between the cracks and get a severance check, but not have to lose their job. No, in life, that would not be possible. In CoV-ville, anything is possible.



Did I share this photo before? I don't think so. If I did, skip over it. We are sitting on the back patio of my folks' house in TX.



I have completing the Jeopardy game for my PMP Prep training session net Wednesday. I am still working on the lesson portion, and it must be ready by Thursday for review with the group leaders. Things like this make the learning more fun than straight lectures. I guess that is why teachers have to keep up with the latest learning trends.

I thought this had some cool arrangements of words mixed with symbols. Personally, I liked the constraints one the most.

Enough for now. Parting is such sweet sorrow. No, I think I made up that phrase. Why do you ask?

[Wednesday update] No dreams that I remember this morning. And the dog did not wake me up during the night, so that's always a plus. So, with no family history stories to tell, there is nothing to stop us from getting today started. I'll meet you on the other side.

Coughing, Comic, Cruising around a track and Cindy

I did go to work today, but I was still sneezing and coughing a lot. And MBH is still fighting it off, too. Do not get this. I am not having fun.

Watch at least the first five minutes of this video. Ricky Jay has some serious card manipulation skills.

A couple of these signs are cute. Several seem a little too staged.

I guess the Disneyland crew is having fun. We have not heard much from them. I think they return tomorrow.

Let's go with Star Wars for today's CoV. Are you excited for a new reboot of the franchise? I am not sure yet.


'Member that I told you about go-karting last Friday. Here is the team posing after our run. We used the track on our right.


[Tuesday update] I woke up this morning thinking about my cousin Cindy, who was born with Down's Syndrome. I remember from my dream that I was taking a photo of some family (I don't know who, and I don't know where) and when I looked in the viewfinder, I saw my cousin sitting behind them on a bench. She was holding a cane and smiling like she always did. When I recognized her, I lowered my camera, but she was not there. I'm no dream whisperer, but it made me smile to think of her. She passed away last year and now is in heaven with her perfect mind, praising Jesus and visiting in a way she never could with her loved ones. I smile as I remember her always saying, "Hey, Randy." "What," I would usually reply, sounding perturbed but smiling at her. "C'mere," she would respond. I would walk over to her and she would smile in her special way and say, "I love you." What can you say to that except, "I love you, too, Cindy." As I wrote that, my eyes got misty. I know Cuz and Aunt Frances miss her, but she is happy and healthy in Heaven.

[Tuesday update] What else can you say after such a personal memory? Nothing. Let's get today started. Remember to enjoy your loved ones while they are with you.

Bible, Beatles, Bella and Broken Down

I am writing this post while working on a lesson for my PMP Study Group and watching The Bible on the History Channel. Actually, I am not watching that closely right now, but it is on in the background. They are telling the story of Sampson.

We are each taking a week to teach a lesson in the PMP Study Group. My turn comes up 3/20 and the leader wants to review it this coming Thursday. So, I am doing a little work over the weekend. I am using Jeopardy as a technique and that made me think of a CoV theme.


We are coming up on a seventh birthday. I wonder whose it could be?

Oh, yeah. It is Bella's birthday next weekend. This is her with her parents when she was just over six hours old. In fact, some of us (but not me) are celebrating with her at The Dis right now.

We went to a concert of Classic Albums Live performing Abbey Road, song for song and note for note. It was a Christmas gift (or maybe birthday?). Anyway, it was so much fun. A surprising revelation is that I liked He's So Heavy more than I did from the old LP. They had so much fun rocking out to it on stage. And Abbey Road reminded me of when the family posed there. Take a look.


I am trying to get a cold or suffering from allergies or something. As a result, I have not yet taken time to work in the garage. I am sniffling and sneezing and have a scratchy throat. I am dosing up on OTC medications in hopes of pulling through mostly unscathed. Otherwise, I will be scathed and you know how bad that can be.

I need to get back to my lesson plan. I will post final thoughts in the morning before I post this for your perusal.

[Monday update] I am at work right now, but still coughing and sniffling a lot. I will try to stay at my desk to avoid contamination of coworkers. I brought some DayQuil in case I decide to self-medicate. I usually refill my water bottles for 2-3 days before tossing. Today, I brought a new one that will get tossed at the end of the day so I can get over this....whatever it is.

I Wish We Could Help, But...No!

There was an article on Yahoo yesterday (or maybe it was an ad. I don't remember) that reminded me of a castle we stayed in during our trip to Scotland a few years ago. We stayed at Birkhill Castle and you can see some photos of the place on the website.

That made me happy, but my discussion with the Help Desk today did not make me as happy. They said that I could not load some company software on my machine, even though it supports an approved company goal. They said, "Don't you have a computer at home you could use?" I explained that I used a Macbook, but got no leeway. I decided it deserved the CoV treatment.



I could have used some WD-40 to eliminate the friction between them and me. Yes, that WD-40. It is used for so many things, I figured that would be one of them

I need to move some stuff out of the garage so that Dad and I can pour some concrete and enclose our laundry area. Sounds fun, right. I was thinking to do this Saturday morning, but it supposed to be raining and loading and unloading at the storage place would not be fun. I may start it tonight, or maybe wait until Sunday.

Think my resume looked anything like this? Would it have gotten me a job quicker? Actually, you can tell it is not me because I am not that good at Mariokart.



The news is showing a story saying we should be careful when hiking and look for rattlesnakes. I guess that's good advice. they are apparently already active since we are having such warm weather.

I ran out of links and quips for today. That's all for Thursday evening.

[Friday update] We desert dwellers are not very accustomed to rain. When we get it, we tend to sloooooow waaaaaay dooooown on freeways. So my commute today took 30 min instead of 20 min. True, that's not killer by itself, but recognizing it as 50% longer tells you something. Oh well, I made it without incident and that's worth something.

[Friday update] No emails yet from the boss, so the go-karts could still happen right after lunch today. Sure, boss, you had to make us go back out on a rainy day? I'm definitely going to try to beat you in the race.

Ack! I'm Already Behind!

Stinking Adam had to go and sin and now we all have to work. So, I went and got a job to help pay my bills and they expect me to produce stuff...like, every day. I need to get my first review documents ready this week, and a presentation for my PMP Study Group by next Thursday. Arghh. Luckily, I work on my blog at home after work, so it should not be affected. Or maybe you were hoping that it would be?

Let's keep the nostalgia going with another historical (or maybe hysterical) photo of me reading to some of the kids. Yes, those were really my glasses. I think the extra kid is Leigh, Carey's daughter?



And another nostalgic item (since this was an idea from 2010) is today's Clarity of Vision.



Hey, here is the shower after I replaced the red grout with white. Better, right? Even MBH, who had suggested it didn't matter if I did this, agreed it was an improvement.



OK, I think I will go review this week's Sunday School lesson. If I do not make time for it, I know I will miss out on something God wants to say to me. I'll post tomorrow, OK?

Just got back from Survivor Party and I was wrong. The fans lost.

[Thursday update] Luckily, my commute was not impacted this morning, but we have another freeway closure during rush hour. As usual, there is a miles-long backup already and there are still almost three hours left in the morning rush. Why don't people pay attention and avoid the affected roads? Many, like I was last week, are caught before they know it has happened. Still, it you just now getting on that freeway, and you are seven miles away from the accident, go a different way!

[Thursday update] Hey, it would be cool to have one of these, right? If you have an extra $100K, you can!


Or how about this for on $55K?



Or even cheaper, get a new workstation for under $50K.

Looking at the Past (Photo, CoV Idea) and the Future (Father, Vote Off)

Let's keep going with the photos from our past. Today is a shot of Christmas 1984 (I think). I am sure most of you have similar memories of days gone by or even from your own childhood. It does bring back some fun memories for me. Look at the madness. And look at the facial hair, and the guys look shaggy, too. Ha ha. A little photographer humor.


Here is a CoV from an idea I saved in January of 2010 and never got around to using.



I have been less diligent in my Bible study since I started working again. That has to disappoint God. I know I don't like it when a child or grandchild doesn't interact with me sometimes. Anyway, at Chorale practice while ago, we sang a song whose words impacted me. Do you ever sing a song without even really hearing the words? Well, I heard this one. It is Trust His Heart.

All things work for our good, though sometimes we can't see how they could.
Struggles that break our hearts in two sometimes blind us to the truth.
Our Father knows what's best for us;
His ways are not our own.
So when your pathway grows dim, and you just can't see Him,
remember, you're never alone.
God is too wise to be mistaken.
God is too good to be unkind.
So when you don't understand,
when you don't see His plan,
when you can't trace His hand, trust His heart.

OK, that's what's on my mind tonight. Until tomorrow then.

[Wednesday update] Let's go with Corinne to be voted off of Survivor tonight. There was some smack talking about her last week and I think it is time for the Favorites to lose. With pizza and wings coming, I know I am not going to lose...neither in taste nor in weight. That's OK. We only do this once a week.

Zero Hour for Zero Hour

I recently started watching Zero Hour on ABC with Anthony Edwards. It is like a TV version of The Da Vinci Code. They have shown three episodes and now I found out it has been cancelled. Don't you hate that? At least I can keep following The Following, although it is pretty dark.

I have not yet worn the red socks that the company gave me. And I don't have any plans to do so. However, I might wear these. Would you?

While we are on the topic of interesting links, let's look at one about game origins. They are somewhat surprising, right? I did play a game at lunch yesterday. We played Super Munchkins and I won. Yeah, baby.

Still on the subject of links and the interweb, I hope none of you have ever been caught in a phishing scam.


Here is a photo of me holding Jack. How did I grow a beard in one day? No wait, it's Kyle. Yes, I do think they look alike.


So, college roomie, comments two days in a row. One making fun of your truly, with no provocation. A second implying you are a better racing kart driver, again with no provocation. I challenge you to a kart-off next time we are together. Hey, it could happen. By the way, it looks like the boss is trying to reschedule our event for this Friday.

[Tuesday update] I am trying to learn Prezi well enough to use it in my PMP Prep class on the 20th. Have y'all ever played with it? It certainly livens up a presentation.

Why My Kart No Go?

Let's start off with an interesting story about the kind of people who build useless machines to do unnecessary things. Then again, maybe this is something people really do need.

Doesn't the title of today's post sound a little like Jar Jar or Yoda? Anyway, you probably wonder how the go-kart outing went last Friday? Unfortunately, it didn't. The boss got sick and we had to cancel. I don't know when or if it will be rescheduled. By then, though, I had already told the Games Gang that I was busy. They played two rounds of Bang!, but I missed out. It seems that the Renegade won both games. Remember that they play using two characters each, so the Renegade player had good skills in both games.

It is about time to get ready for a Chorale + Orchestra concert tonight. We are performing out at a local RV park. We have joined with a little choral group from that park (also directed by our Chorale director), so we have a total of 122 singers and 14 orchestra members.

I also wrote Monday's CoV. Just a little take on what "back-up" means.




OK, I scraped out some of the red grout so I can make it all look consistent with the same grout as the floor. I am not sure when I will get to it. My plan is this week.


On Saturday, we took the GRANDS to a park. Here is Nana with Jack. Jack is the one with the hat.


And Bella swinging on a round disk. I t looks like a more modern version of the old tire swing.


And Kendall jumping on a platform thingy. I don't know exactly what it would be called officially.


That'll do for now. We'll see if I decide about updates in the morning.

[Monday update] The concert last night went well. You know how that kind of stuff is. I was at home and didn't really want to get dressed and spend a few hours at the concert, but I enjoyed it once I went.

I Feel the Need

That's right. The need for speed. Our monthly team activity this time is going to an indoor go-kart track and race. We will catch lunch first, but I don't know where. I guess that means I cannot eat lunch outside in a bean bag. What am I talking about? Check out NZCPA for the scoop.

Am I upset the Pope is retiring before his time? No, it's been 600 years since one did that and I am pretty much over the shock now. However, that does not mean it is not a potential topic for CoV.


Daughter and I helped MBH with some test grading tonight, so I did not watch any TV nor did I have a chance to play with any photos. However, I decided to post one I found the other night. Another reminder of why fashions should not repeat themselves. This was taken out behind the folk's house.


We're keeping the GRANDS Friday night, so I won't keep you. I need to get home and hold me some kiddos. I don't know what we will do for dinner. We do like to hit Mickey D's so they can play on the playground, but maybe it's time for a change. Or maybe not.

It is already bedtime, so I will let you go early. I might decide to write more in the morning, so stay tuned.

[Friday update] Did you know that McDonald's has an official name for each of the four shapes of Chicken McNuggets? Did you even know there were specific shapes? I didn't. I had not even thought about it, to be honest.

[Friday update] Are those of you in other places being as bombarded with news of the Jodi Arias trial as we are? It seems to be the lead story on all local news programs, and is big on CNN, too. I have to admit, it is addicting. If you don't know of it, read a bit of the salacious details here.