TIME OUT!

Why Does It Hurt So Much??? Is it because it was Texas Christian University??? Well yes actually, especially since they share the same conference and this not only destroys BYU's loss-less season knocking them out of the top 10 but worse, it knocks them off the top of the MWC. This was really not a good game to lose, and to lose so badly (32-7)... I know it shouldn't matter, but FETCH (I only reserve such strong language for really deserving situations like this one)!!!! FETCH, FETCH, FETCH, FLIP and FETCH! Now thanks to BYU I have to make an appointment to see my Bishop for excessive potty mouth.




I really thought BYU had something this year... I've only been able to watch one game, against Utah State University where based on stats BYU should have destroyed them but didn't. And now this... I mean I knew they weren't going to the Rose Bowl or anything, their schedule wasn't strong enough. But it sure would have been nice to finish in the top 10!




Kudos to TCU, it will be fun to watch them and the U of U battle it out for the MWC. I guess there is always next year for us Cougs... However, we must beat the U of U, that will save some face. If we don't, I'll hang my head in shame and probably use a lot more Utahrd obscenities...

Did You Know?

Bill Bixby (January 22, 1934 – November 21, 1993) was one of my favorite actors while I was growing up, mostly for his portrayal of the perfect father, Eddie’s father in “The Courtship of Eddie’s Father”. Of course I loved Eddie too because he represented everything that was good (and safe, despite losing his Mom). They had the perfect father-son relationship. Apparently they were close off the set and spent a lot of time together as friends, which obviously helped the credibility of their relationship on the set.

The Dead Kennedy's - That's "Eddie" on the far right

Actor Brandon Cruz who played Eddie Corbett is my age, he retired from acting at age 18 in 1980 to focus on a music career to shed his squeaky-clean Eddie image. He was the lead singer for the hard core punk band “The Dead Kennedys” around the same time that I began listening to hard core punk, yet I never knew it was “Eddie” singing those obscenities until just less than a year ago when I decided to google “The Courtship Of Eddie’s Father”. The Dead Kennedy’s were never my favorite, but I did own one LP (Fresh Fruit For Rotting Vegetables mainly for the song, "Holiday In Cambodia"). Cruz grew up surfing and skateboarding, not all that different from me in my youthful days. Personally, I liked him better as “Eddie”. Of course, I liked me better in my pre-teen years too!

Me when I was a nice boy (notice the tie)

Me (1979) trying hard not be a nice boy

A Tad Bit More Levity Please

My blog requires a bit more levity after a slew of deep thought regurgitation posts. My wife sent this story to me in an email this morning and it put a smile on my face (OK, I lol'd). You gotta love those West Virginians!


C'mon man, yo no fui! No te tire' el pedo!


Dude, that was like HAZMAT-Agent Orange nasty

SOUTH CHARLESTON, W.Va. (Sept. 25) -- A West Virginia man who police said passed gas and fanned it toward a patrolman has been charged with battery on a police officer.

Jose A. Cruz, 34, of Clarksburg, was pulled over early Tuesday for driving without headlights, police said. According to the criminal complaint, Cruz smelled of alcohol, had slurred speech and failed three field sobriety tests before he was handcuffed and taken to a police station for a breathalyzer test.

As Patrolman T.E. Parsons prepared the machine, Cruz scooted his chair toward Parsons, lifted his leg and "passed gas loudly," the complaint said. Cruz, according to complaint, then fanned the gas toward the officer. "The gas was very odorous and created contact of an insulting or provoking nature with Patrolman Parsons," the complaint alleged. He was also charged with driving under the influence, driving without headlights and two counts of obstruction.

Cruz acknowledged passing gas, but said he didn't move his chair toward the officer nor aim gas at the patrolman. He said he had an upset stomach at the time, but police denied his request to go to the bathroom when he first arrived at the station. "I couldn't hold it no more," he said.

He also denied being drunk and uncooperative as the police complaint alleged. He added he was upset at being prepared for a breathalyzer test while having an asthma attack. The police statement said he later resisted being secured for a trip to a hospital that he requested for asthma treatment.

Cruz said the officers thought the gas incident was funny when it happened and laughed about it with him. "This is ridiculous," he said. "I could be facing time."

Copyright 2008 The Associated Press. The information contained in the AP news report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed without the prior written authority of The Associated Press. 2008-09-24 20:24:44

BTW, my brothers and I have tested the fanning technique and it is in fact quite effective! (Just ask my sister, and youngest brother Seth)

Three Men On Horses (Revised)

On a previous post I had a discussion with blogger buddy Adam about the sensitive subject of deciding to have children and he claimed that “wisdom” or “using our heads” should be exercised when making such decisions. It is my contention that man’s“wisdom” and “using our heads” is not necessarily always in concordance with God’s wisdom (in other words, “the natural man is an enemy to God”). And that perhaps less wisdom (using our heads) should be exercised…

My wife and I were discussing the wisdom of marriage, and that if people really understood what they were getting into up front (taking away any knowledge of the Gospel plan), they might think again about their decision. Granted, falling in love is a strong motivator, but we’re talking about conventional wisdom here, falling in love doesn’t fall into that category, in fact it often opposes it.

In reality, marriage and bearing children could be lumped in with other less than fruitful to the natural man LDS practices such as paying tithing, serving others, storing food, keeping the Sabbath day holy, etc. If you use the natural man’s wisdom, each of these would likely hinder your success and progress in this life, just citing survival in today’s worsening economy as one indicator of “success and progress”. For example, a recent story in a magazine highlighted a couple who had submitted to receiving free financial counseling in debt reduction in exchange for their story for the article. The very first expense this couple was counseled to get rid of was their $400/month tithing contribution. That has the natural man’s wisdom written all over it.

Going back to the decision to have children, we obviously know there are many and varying reasons why people might still be having children despite the natural man’s wisdom screaming in protest against it. I imagine much has to do with the natural consequences of uncontrolled passion combined with our God-given innate conscience which testifies that this is now human life and should be protected at all cost.

But you also have those who have a belief system which putteth off the natural man. This system demands sacrifice and requires faith, which is a belief in something that one can not actually see or which is not obvious, yet promises to be for one’s betterment. The woman willingly sacrifices her shapely body (in many cases forever more) to become a birthing vessel, she submits to being horribly sick, tired and uncomfortable and to crown the whole ordeal with a crescendo of pain, and that’s just the beginning. The man commits to providing a part of his earnings, personal time, devotion and to emotionally enduring all of his wife’s hardships and trials without ever having firsthand knowledge for himself of what it is like to be “Mom”. And all of this for the sake of the little offspring who will fill its diaper with smelly stuff, need every amount of help imaginable, rarely ever appreciate anything, eventually think you are completely off your rocker having been duped by your imaginations, and then expect your help all over again when raising their own children all the while acknowledging that while you may have done OK, they will do it much better (did I get it right Mom/Dad?)

Another thought about man’s wisdom is the idea that something that holds its value (i.e. Toyota/Honda) is good or wise and that something that appreciates in value is genius. That which depreciates in value is unwise (politely speaking). God’s wisdom isn’t all that different, but one significant variation is the timeline, God views things with a much longer one, eternal in fact. Mortality is but a blink of the eye so His wisdom requires a much longer term value to merit true worth. We LDS believers are taught that we come into mortality with nothing and that we depart with nothing except our knowledge gained from experiences in mortality and our relationships (those bound for eternity in our temples). Knowledge is therefore a wise investment, acknowledging that some types of knowledge are of far greater worth than other types. Of course there simply can’t be enough said with regards to the value of temple sealings and eternal relationships.

I love this quote by an unknown author: Three men on horses riding through the forest. A man stops them, he picks up some stones and gives them to the riders saying, "tomorrow you will be both happy and sad". They awoke the next morning, the stones had turned to precious jewels. Happy with the value of the jewels, sad they did not pick up more. Our experiences and the knowledge we gain in mortality are like the stones that turn to precious jewels. I am of the belief that those jewels with the most value are directly related to the experiences that we collect as parents. God’s primary role is that of Father (parent), and do we not desire to be like God?

What are the things of greatest value or worth to God? The scriptures most often relate “worth” to the written word (i.e. records that were commanded to be preserved throughout the ages). This sounds like “knowledge” to me. But we shouldn’t forget this one: “Remember the worth of souls is great in the sight of God” Also this one: “Children are an heritage from the Lord: and the fruit of the womb is his reward”. And here’s my favorite part: HAPPY IS THE MAN that hath his quiver full of them PSALMS 127:5.

I find it extremely interesting that the greatest gift that God has to offer us (exaltation) involves eternal increase. It’s as though He has granted us these procreative powers temporarily in this test environment (mortality) to see how we’ll do, and will reward those who prove worthy of such eternal blessings.

As for people who are unable to marry and/or have children but desire these things, I know that God is a fair God and that he will provide a way. Maybe not here in mortality but somehow he will make it right. I don’t proclaim to know all of the mysteries of heaven, only to know that God is fair and loves us.

Finally, I view parenting as selfish service, if there is such a thing (not to be confused with “self service”). Service indeed (extremely hard work as anyone with teenagers can attest), for clearly these little ones could not make it on their own without help, without mentors. At the same time and in so doing I am hopefully earning my own rite of passage (after grace/redemption of course) to exaltation. And in addition, these children that we serve can become ours forever too, and all of their posterity forever and ever. But is it really service, if the one serving has as much to gain as those being served???

Paying Respects To The Victims of 9/11

We had a moment of silence today at work at 9:03am. I had to go back to the details of that day to understand the significance of 9:03: when the 2nd (south) tower was hit signaling the first outward indicator to the world that this was not merely an accident, this was intentional.


It is always sobering each year to relive the events of that day but I felt like I needed to. The schools in our district encouraged the children to wear red, white and blue to school and I was moved to heed the counsel as well.


At 9:03 during the silence, I googled up the timeline of 9/11. I then found myself wanting to review once again the many photos for a visual remembrance. I reviewed the pictures online but this one (see above) impacts me most because it makes me recall witnessing the gravity and horror that the victims were faced with and makes me consider the complete despair and hopelessness that they were experiencing. I watched live several people leap to their deaths before it was decided by the media that it was simply too horrible to witness. I read this article with great reverence, always wondering about the details of those people. There is just nothing more disturbing and it so pulls on the heart strings to witness these innocent people who were forced to choose their own manner of death, by fire or by impact.

Most all children have had a discussion with their friends at some point in their young lives contemplating the worst way to die. Of course the various forms of torture come up but barring those, most people tend to agree that death by fire has got to be one of the worst. I fear dying in all forms but death by fire and drowning have always been my “most feared”. Falling to one’s death usually always comes up but is often reduced in horribleness by the assumption that the pain would only last a fraction of split second. I have to think that this is what those people were thinking as the flames grew nearer and hotter.

In the 1974 movie Towering Inferno, some people above the fire were rescued. Any of the 9/11 victims who had seen that film might have maintained the futile hope to hold out until the very end. But at some point if the flames get close and hot enough, a decision has to be made and I’d think that for me falling to my death would be the better way to go (not sure I'd have the courage to do it though). Either way, I’d be praying with all my heart to be translated before actually tasting death.

On September 11, 2001 I was working from home (living in Marietta, GA), my wife was planning to attend a play date at the park with our youngest kids and some of the other neighborhood mothers. When she called next door to Alicen to inquire of the exact time, Alicen replied that she didn’t feel quite up to it any more with all that was going on. And that’s when we tuned in and from that point forward we watched and witnessed the tragic events unfold. The collapsing of the first building (north tower) was devastating, the second was equally as devastating but essentially anticipated, it was just a matter of when it was going to happen. We had no idea how the evacuations were going, no way to offer a hand or to assist in any way. All we could do is watch helplessly from our family room and pray along with the rest of the world.

Happy Birthday To My Brother Duncan

Faith Precedes The Miracle

Being a man with a large family, the subject of “affording to have babies” has come up over and over in my adult life. People love to use this as an excuse to not have children or to condemn others that do. People don’t attack me (in front of me anyway) for my large family because they for some reason think that I can afford it. They think that I can’t afford a TV (why else would anyone have so many children), but I can afford my children. I in contrast believe that I can only afford whatever God affords me…

In response to the “people should only have children if they can afford it” mentality, I say hogwash. I am not familiar with the "multiply and replenish the earth if you can afford it" commandment any more than I am the "pay tithing if you can afford it" commandment. I believe faith precedes the miracle. Else, if I lose my job after I have had children and I can’t afford them, this logic would suggest that I don't deserve them or I should no longer have them... Are there any guarantees that I should have the means to provide for even myself, lest the Lord (giver of all) grants unto me?

Here is what life has taught me, in retrospect:

It seems that I can associate significant financial blessings with and not long after the birth and arrival of each of my children. However, this did not change the fact that I was laid off shortly after 9/11 due to a steep downward trend in IT spending associated with the economic uncertainties of that time. With employment opportunities scarce and the pool of unemployed competition so great, not to mention having a large family and no income (which would last 14 months), I was forced to look outside of the box from a somewhat desperate perspective, and I came to learn a thing or two.

Thoughts of embellishing my resume and/or exaggerating the truth in interviews came to my mind, how was I going to have an edge? I've never been a good liar (thankfully) and of course this would contradict everything that I believe about decency, so after many humbling months I finally realized that I was going about this job seeking approach all wrong. I was trusting in the arm of my own flesh (my perceived strengths and abilities) rather than putting my faith and trust in my God (giver of all).

My wife and I discussed the financial blessings that I mentioned before with the welcoming of each new child and we postulated that if ever we needed a financial blessing, it was now. We were desirous to have another child but would it not be preposterous to consider such a long term commitment under this current zero income financial state and uncertainty in our lives?

I saw the parallel of this “trusting in the arm of flesh” mentality in my job seeking approach to the proposition of having another baby at this time. The scriptures are replete with these “I will go and do the things the Lord commands” perfect faith stories that we all shake our heads and say “amen” to. Yet in real life we are so easily tempted to run in the other direction in fear proclaiming by our very actions that what we really believe is that those types of miracles could only happen in ancient scripture times.

Cathleen and I were somewhat ashamed to realize that we were leaning toward the “logical” world’s standards (arm of flesh) mentality of waiting for a more prosperous and "convenient" time to have children. We didn't share that same doubt in our youth when we were college students and decided we would have children right away despite having nothing and no actual means of affording a child. We certainly didn't have any good reason to stop trusting God now so why then should we not have a child under these circumstances we reasoned? We repented of that fear and doubt that Satan loves to fill people with and decided that we would exercise faith and put the whole matter in the Lord's hands, job, baby, etc.

Our son (#7) was born on 17th August of that year, in December I had two very good job offers (imagine that, I didn't have to settle in desperation for the first thing that came up, after 14 months I had choices). Coincidence? I don't believe that for a minute!

I find it interesting that these blessings didn't come immediately. They came after 3 more months. I believe that we were still being tested to see if we would have a change of attitude, a decline in faith, a loss of heart. We had a precious new spirit sent straight from the heavens, why would we? I was relishing the idea of having time available to focus on the events associated with this new one. We had hope, we had faith and we were happy because we felt we had made the right choices despite difficult circumstances. But it still wasn't easy, we were tested to the end. And when I say end, I mean the very end of all of our savings, every last red cent to our name (and then some), to the point where we were preparing ourselves to find out what manna was going to taste like.

You know you're completely humbled when ward members and old mission companions of moderate means are anonymously dropping generous amounts of $ in your mailbox because Christmas is rapidly approaching. With a lump in your throat and tears in your eyes you get on your knees and express gratitude and humility like you never have before. Does God answer prayers and meet the needs of his children through acts and services of others? I wholeheartedly attest that he does.

Six years and 3 more children later, we are far better off financially now than we were then, but more importantly we are far more spiritually mature from the whole experience.

So my take on having children is, be married first, and then if you want to see real miracles in your life, and witness for yourselves that Heavenly Father is real and that he has got your back, have them. The more miracles you want to see (and the more miraculous), the more children you should have! This isn’t to say that it will be easy and there are sure to be hardships, trials, tribulations and painful growth, but it will all be worth it, of this I am certain.

There is no logic from the world's perspective to having children. There is no worldly logic to paying tithing. In addition, accumulating food storage and serving others (without compensation) will likely adversely affect your portfolio (in the short term). The world measures success and happiness on a monetary scale and investment in these ways will undoubtedly tilt those scales in the opposite direction by all logical reasoning. God's ways are not measured on a monetary scale. Having children is "being about (doing) God's work". It is not only for the rich and/or the middle class, it is for anyone who truly wants to be doing His work. And where there is a will, there is always a way!

I strongly advocate enlisting in this divine service and I would discourage people to wait until "college educations are saved for". Exercise faith, have babies, witness miracles like you never have before and be truly happy!

Happy Birthday To My Brother Kevin

Kevin has come a long way since his long-haired days in France. For a guy who doesn't really like having his picture taken, this was a rare pose indeed.



But lately, it seems like I am seeing his pictures everywhere...




He really seems to have made a name for himself back when he started splashing on the "Lenny" cologne in his Vogue magazine days.




Now, women everywhere desire him for his warmth and congeniality...

The Box - A Better Way???

The next time I move (providing it isn't that last big move to that small pine box), I'm seriously considering craigslisting everything and getting me one (OK, maybe 10) of these. While it still takes two people to lift and carry, you're lifting and moving work are complete after that single (or in my case 10) item(s) is/are moved. Is this an Elder's quorum's dream or what? It's a European dealio that measures 47.2 inches in length, 35.4 inches in height and 31.5 inches in width and is ideal for people like me with sore backs and achy legs, feet and body in general.

The concept is CASULO!

Any college student, who like me moved around a lot in college can get behind this little nifty concept 100%

You see, this little yellow box contains an apartment's worth of furniture. It's the ultimate in frugal living (I'm surprised that my brother Duncan in his small apartment void of most all creature comforts didn't invent this himself). Inside you'll find:

1 wardrobe
1 large desk/table
1 desk cabinet with locking drawers
1 revolving, height-adjustable desk chair
2 stools
1 single (twin) bed
1 mattress
1 tall set of shelves.

Note: The stools and the drawers of the desk cabinet also serve and double as additional storage containers.

You don't believe me do you? Well check the video and photos below. (watch the video before scrolling down to the pics!)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OYCTcPkIIBI

I mean, how much do we really need to live in relative comfort? Admittedly, there's no sofa in the box, no Widescreen TV, no stereo system, and certainly none of the typical comforts of home.

But who really needs any of that junk? If you need to read a book or use the computer, go to the local library and help yourself to whatever you want/need, while enjoying their free air conditioning or heating. Need music? Go to a department store or get on an elevator and enjoy relaxing music free of charge. Need to watch some TV? Sears, Best Buy, Costco, they all have them on display, often with nice comfortable chairs and Bose surround sound. Need to kick back on a couch? Go to your friend's house and feel free to rifle through the fridge and pantry for some munchies while you're at it. What about photo albums and hardbound books for your blogs that you'll never read again? Store your photos on-line (flickr) and don't worry about your saving your blogs, nobody is really reading them anyway. Need a bigger house (you don't once you've heeded my suggestions)? Get rid of some furniture, this will increase your living space immensely! Enjoy never having to pay money to rent a truck, POD or storage unit ever again!

Of course these helpful tips do not apply to the married man now do they?

Complete Chaos!

The current state of the aftermath of our recent move has left me even more disheveled than normal. I am happy to report that all of our "stuffs" are within the confines of our new home now. Unfortunately, there are still boxes everywhere and I can't seem to find anything I need, even when I was just using it moments ago (screw driver, flash light, light bulbs, pen, drink, etc.)

So, while packing up the old house, I made some wonderful discoveries of useful things long lost. How I would have enjoyed having some of those things back (some even from as long ago as our previous move 4-5 years prior). However, I can no longer remember what those things are now since every new box from this move looks the same, despite whatever effort was put into describing the contents on the external label. I've temporarily lost far more things than I care to disclose. You can't list all of the contents of a box on a little label (and who has the time) and lo and behold, the thing I'm often looking for is something not specified on the label. So, this is why we buy more of the same and eventually have 5 dust pans, 7 pencil sharpeners, 3 measuring tapes, 14 phillips head screw drivers, etc. And those little nuts and bolts, where are the ones that I need and when am I ever going to need all these ones that I have?

I yearn for order, for all of my stuffs to have a place to call home. Yet, I don't relish the idea of trying to find those things later once I've found a home for them. I can't even figure out which light switches turn on what without flicking all of them over and over again. And finally, the most enjoyable part of all of this chaos is that while we adult folk are spending every waking hour trying to organize and restore order, the little trio are going through boxes on their own creating more and more disorder and chaos everywhere. And I've come to the conclusion that bigger rooms doesn't make those sharp-edged little confounded wretched toys hurt the bare feet any less. In fact, it just means that the little vexing things are less densely concentrated and therefore more likely to be inadvertantly stepped on.


My home computer is still not up (who has time), so I am left to take care of electronic business at work. Slowly but surely things are progressing. I finally got all of the beds built and the bedrooms organized with furniture at least against the walls.

In any case, this pie chart depicts my normal life, but even more so now in the current state of affairs of my household.

Farewell Bozo!

I’m going to have to pay tribute to Larry Harmon (Bozo The Clown) who just passed away. The reason is, I’m sure he’s somehow in my gene pool. You see, I have inherited his exact same hairdo! I don’t particularly like that I have his hairdo, but I guess things could be worse…

When I don’t keep my hair-wings cut closely to my head regularly (within 2 weeks), it starts to get all bozo’d out. Every 2 weeks is just too darned much maintenance to have to break out the buzzer and make a big mess. The alternative that I’ve chosen, shave my entire head twice a week. This doesn’t make the mess as I can do it in the shower and I can do it pretty quickly (haven't cut myself yet). To do it more frequently is a pain. If I wait a full week, it becomes a bigger effort because those little manageable stubs become big unmanageable stubs.

Some things I’ve noticed with the shorn look/feel. The first time I did it, my head felt really exposed, I could feel wind resistance on my little stubbles from just walking. I’ve never felt that sensation again so I think you become accustomed to it pretty quickly. By the end of day one, that stubble becomes like Velcro. Anything I put my head against (i.e. pillow, couch, head rest, pulling shirt over head, hat, head band (racquetball) just grabs hold and sticks to my head. It’s very annoying (actually it is helpful with the hat and head band)! I’m considering epiladying my noggin.

One other downside, I don’t like the full-on egg head look, just too much flesh for my liking. So I’ve elected to grow this facial hair that my mother (and wife) hate so much. I just feel like it breaks up the humpty dumpty flesh sea a bit. Aside from the look, I hate it. It feels like I have cotton candy stuck to my chin and the moustache hair is so wiry and coarse that it is constantly poking my lips. I just don’t like the whole feel at all but I’m hoping that I’ll eventually get accustomed to these sensations to the point where I don’t notice them. Here we are in month two and no sign of cotton candy chin and pokey lip going away.

Anyway, I’ve put Cathleen on a special genealogy assignment to find out if Bozo was on my maternal or paternal side so that I can accurately assign blame for all of this…

Me with my new unbozo-ified look

Is Your A/C Working?

This is fun to look at when it's smoldering outside.


Amazing striped icebergs (Snopes.com says "True")

Icebergs in the Antarctic area sometimes have stripes, formed by layers of snow that react to different conditions. Blue stripes are often created when a crevice in the ice sheet fills up with meltwater and freezes so quickly that no bubbles form. When an iceberg falls into the sea, a layer of salty seawater can freeze to the underside. If this is rich in algae, it can form a green stripe. Brown, black and yellow lines are caused by sediment, picked up when the ice sheet grinds downhill towards the sea.



Below: The water froze the instant the wave broke through the ice. That's what it is like in Antarctica where it is the coldest weather in decades. Water freezes the instant it comes in contact with the air. The temperature of the water is already some degrees below freezing.


A wave frozen in mid-air!!!

More cool pics!

Blog List - Most Recently Updated Blogs

Kewl! I just blog lifted this from someone else (Adam). Blogspot now has a new Page Element that you can add to your blog page creating a blog roll list of all your blog links and it will organize and sort your links in order of "most recently posted". It tells the blog name, title of the new post and how recently it was posted.

Where Is This Going?

It has come to my attention (since I'm working from home today) that my 5 year old son Nathaniel likes to color himself while playing with sidewalk chalk. I suppose it seemed harmless enough to Cathleen in the past. however I became concerned when I saw his latest look.



I'm certainly hoping this fetish does not lead to this ->



If Nathaniel starts to exhibit "never nude" syndrome, I'm going to take him in for therapy before it's too late.

Father's Day!

First off, happy father's day to our (mine and Cathleen's) fathers, we love you! But equally as important, happy father's day to me! My day was wonderful and so I thought I'd share a few tidbits. Here are my youngest 6 with me heading out to church this morning.



Church was good, I got to hear about how a good dad is really supposed to be... Then I came home and Cathleen made BLTs and watermelon with grapes. I played a game of "Trouble" with Gwen, Jonathan and Nate and I won (go figure, I never win that game, I can never pop 6's). I had a good nap and then we had steaks on the grill, potatoes and angel food cake with chocolate frosting. It couldn't have been a better day!

Ummm, Hot Tip??? - MagicJack Maybe Not...

Date June 28, the jury is still out on this product. In fact, the verdict is not looking too good. We've had strange things happen, calls drop all of the sudden, music playing in the background, etc. The connection sounds pretty clear on our side but for people calling us, it constantly sounds like the connection is cutting out. I know because I call Cathleen from various phones and it is pretty annoying. I just got a new phone at work which is also Internet based and it has strange things happening as well, not quite like the MagicJack but "strange". For example, it seems that I am picking up feedback if the phone is too close to other electronic devices. I don't have the same lack of clarity or dropping that I see when calling home to the Magic Jack but I think VOIP (Voice Over IP) is not quite there yet. So, I'm not sure if we keep the Magic Jack as a secondary line and hope that things improve over time or just return it for a refund (we have about 14 days left of our free trial). And that's where we are with it... Note: at $10/year almost doesn't matter what I do. We will probably just keep it.

6/14/08: You heard it here first, MagicJack is going to save me $63+ a month. We installed it yesterday, very simple and it seems to be great so far. If you haven't crossed over to a cell phone only existence, perhaps you should consider this alternative. We prefer to have a home base number, granted this phone will not be available if you lose internet or if your computer goes down (calls will roll to voice mail). But for $20/year (or $10/year if you opt for the 5 year plan like we did), I think I can live with those conditions. Click the link and watch the video clips and check it out for yourselves. I'm a proponent at this point.