We watched "Smoke Signals" a few days ago and chuckled at the John Wayne's Teeth song. Rick, Darlene, Dave, Bonny, and the three of us went to the Nevada Corn Maze (again, as the three of us went last year), but the corn was dead this year. I guess we went a little earlier in the season last time. This year's maze was more difficult and took us longer to get out. We then stopped to eat at Heidi's Family Restaurant in Fallon before returning. Captain Porkchop wouldn't let us order pork chops.

We watched "Moonstruck" with Nicolas Cage and Cher. Pretty hilarious movie, but I'm sure glad I'm not Italian. They seem to argue too much. Was interested to learn that diesel cars and trucks can also run on free fuel instead of costly traditional petroleum fuel. In my estimation, anyone with a diesel car would be crazy not to convert their car over to start using waste vegetable oil as fuel. The conversion kits are inexpensive, and the fuel is free! The only downside is that your exhaust will smell like french fries.   =)

I surpassed the 1,800 workunit mark a few of days ago for Seti@home, and just passed 1,900 today. I've been racing a guy named Robert Deadman for a couple of years or so (although he might not know it), first I was ahead, then he was, we were pretty neck and neck for awhile, and then he pulled ahead and stayed ahead for about a year, but now I've not only caught up, but surpassed him, and there's no way he can keep up now after our recent upgrades. Feel free to see what other distributed computing projects I'm involved in.

Was amused to hear that a guy was sued for squirting soy sauce on another guy. We truly live in a litigious society.

Another recent site update: I just added the work cam page. I previously had a link directly to the live video feed, but now it's a little more user friendly with a snapshot and directions, too.

Misti and I were the witness couple for the first time in our session at the Reno Temple this past weekend. It was neat. I was saddened to hear that Richard Harris (Prof. Dumbledore in the first two Harry Potter movies) died a couple of days ago from Hodgkin's Disease.   =(

And now, here's Misti with a few words: "Each month, I'm going highlight a product from Herbalife because even though they have great weight loss products, they also have many other products that are wonderful for helping keep your body healthy. There are products specifically for women, men, children, elderly, active (people who play sports or work out a lot), the heart, the immune system, and so on and so forth. And to begin, this month, I'm going to highlight Kindermins vitamin drops.



Kindermins is one of my more favorite products from Herbalife because it is a great way for little children 6 months to 3 years old, to get all the vitamins they need. They're in liquid form, so you can just put them in a bottle, sippy cup, on cereals, or other foods. Also, because they are liquid vitamins, they absorb faster and better into the system. They really seemed to have helped Becky, in that they keep her little system working well. They're just a great way for little children to get their vitamins when they can't have the chewable vitamins yet." If you'd like to try some Kindermins, feel free to e-mail Misti for a quote.   =)

David had his missionary farewell yesterday. We attended the Galena Ward's Sacrament meeting after going to our ward's Sacrament meeting (where I accompanied the young men and young women on the piano while they saing a musical number). Dave and Bonny gave great talks, as did my Dad and Mom (even if her's was a tad lengthy...) Spoony came down from the Lake, and Ginger, Megan, Marta, and Neal came up from Dayton and Carson for the event. After church, we all had a wonderful dinner and visited. Later that evening, Darlene (must've been beginner's luck) schooled the rest of us in a game of "It Came to Pass".

In other news, Saturday night was the first time that I recall having given food back at a drive-thru window: an apple core. While waiting in line at Burger King's drive-thru window, I was eating an apple (a Golden Delicious). It took so long that I had time to finish the whole thing, so when we finally got our food, I was left holding just the core. Not wanting to throw the core out the window or drop it on the floor, I politely asked the window employee if they had a garbage can inside to dispose of the core. She said 'yes' and kindly took the core. It struck Misti as being a bit strange, so I thought I'd mention it here.



Okay, here's a movie question: in "Monsters, Inc." when George Sanderson is involved in the "2319" with the contaminated sock and the CDA, they shave him and shower him during the decontamination scene. They then rip a band-aid off of his back causing him to yell. Since he was completely covered in fur just before the incident, and they shave and shower him in just a few seconds, when, why, and how did the band-aid get there? It couldn't have been there before because that area was completely covered with fur and no band-aid is visible before this scene. If it was placed there as a result of the shaving process, why put it there only to get wet in the shower and then get ripped off just moments later? Regardless of how it got there, why rip it off at all? That whole scene strikes me as odd.



I just found out that I'm not alone when it comes to spoonerisms. They're fairly common occurances, and sometimes just plain hilarious.   =)

Well, I tried some more Dreyer's frozen fruit bars recently: the Lime and Tangerine flavors. What I've finally decided is that the only really good ones are the Strawberry, Wild Berry, and Coconut Cream ones. The rest, while they're not horrible or anything, really aren't all that special.

I've been watching some BYU Television lately (the high bandwidth feed is actually pretty nice). No, I haven't forgot about following up on the whole "offerings" topic in the Old Testament. I'm still not done yet. The more I delve, the more complex it gets.

Lance B. Wickman's talk in the October 2002 General Conference, entitled "But If Not", is so awesome. Each Conference, I tend to have a favorite talk, and his is my new favorite.

So everyone knows that saccharin, aspartame, and sugar are horrible for your health, but has anyone heard anything bad about Xylitol? Everything I've read so far seems to indicate that it's safe, natural, and is actually good for your teath. I did see two articles that said if you 'overdosed' on it, the only side effects might be diarrhea or indigestion. All the products I've seen that contain xylitol are gums, mints, breath fresheners, nasal sprays, and even a baking mix, but how come you don't see it at the store in soda, frozen desserts, cereals, candy, etc.? Apparently it's also safe for diabetics, so is it in diabetic foods, too?

We almost went to the Reno Italian Festival a few days ago, but decided against it based upon a Reno Gazette-Journal article that said that there would be no food at the Italian festival on Saturday. What kind of a festival is that? (The whole festival is only two days, Saturday and Sunday - and why would anyone want to go on a Sunday when they could go on a Saturday?) I'm sure the RGJ will be pleased to know that their article trying to promote the event actually detracted people from attending.

I honestly don't think 2000 flushes actually lasts for 2,000 flushes. If you flushed 8 times a day, that would mean that it should last 250 days or roughly 8 months and 10 days. Whatever. The most I've ever seen one last is about 3 months. I suppose I'll have to conduct an experiment... UPDATE: I just checked their website, and it admits that they only last 4 months!!

We viewed "Tortilla Soup" [Hector Elizondo (from The Princess Diaries), Raquel Welch, Elizabeth Pena (from Rush Hour)] the other day. It's a pretty strange flick, but it's funny in a quirky way.

Other movies we've watched lately: "Emma" [Gwyneth Paltrow], "Mr. Nice Guy" [Jackie Chan], "Mr. Wonderful" [Matt Dillon], "10 Things I Hate About You" [Heath Ledger, Julia Stiles, David Krumholtz, Susan May Pratt], "Miss Congeniality" [Sandra Bullock, Michael Caine, Candice Bergen, William Shatner], and "Fools Rush In" [Matthew Perry, Salma Hayek]. "Emma" is a old-fashioned remake of "Clueless", both of which are based on the 1815 book of the same name by Jane Austin.

Recently listened to Andy McNab's "Firewall", but didn't like it. Too much bad language. Too long of a book. Didn't even finish it. The unabridged version was 12 cassettes long! It just kept dragging on and on, even by the 11th cassette it was just slow as can be. I don't recommend it. Another book I just finished today is entitled "McNally's Dilemma" by Lawrence Sanders, and it's okay. It was the abridged version, so it fit on only 2 cassettes. It started out a little too 'high society' with an overdone use of esoteric words and phrases, but it turned out fine and was a pretty good plot. A little unbelievable and way too convienient, but good nonetheless.



Recent site updates: added a couple new cam pics to the TV cam gallery, and added the desktop cam page. I got a weird haircut at Supercuts the other day. It's weird because it's still about the same length as it was when I went in, and yet I saw a bunch of hair fall to the ground. It's like they didn't even cut it at all. I think they're running a scam over there. Very strange.



We took a little mini trip to Ely and Baker (Nevada) on Monday and Tuesday. We visited Lehman Caves but, thanks to delays on the highway caused by the oh-so-industrious brainiacs chatting with each other next to some Nevada Department of Transportation equipment, we missed the last guided tour, so we didn't get to actually see the caves inside. We had to settle for the visitors' center, a National Parks Service film about the geological forming of the caves, and 'Too Tall Tony' on the side of the road (see photo, above). We did, however, eat dinner at a fabulous restaurant in Ely, "La Fiesta". I went down there to attend the annual conference of the Rural Telecommunications Task Force of Nevada (RTTF). We stopped by Gorman's Supermarket and got a Lindt Pistachio bar (Swiss milk chocolate with whole pistachio nuts in almond fillling) and some Henry Weinhard's Root Beer. Mmmmm.

We were grateful to watch the 172nd Semiannual General Conference this weekend on T.V. Of course, my dad and I watched the Priesthood Session at the Stake Center, though. It's nice, however, to watch the proceedings without having to travel too far. I also accessed the broadcast via the Church website - and was pleased to see that they increased the stream bandwidth for broadband users to 250 kbps. As demand increases every six months, I look forward to a higher video resolution (800x600) at a higher data rate (like 500 or 768 kbps) hopefully in the near future.

Becca got a couple of new toys a few days ago, including Playskool® Stack & Nest Cubes and Fisher-Price® Snap-Lock Beads. She seems to really like them. We found some more CFLs that work even better in smaller lamps, Lights of America® Mini Twister® 5 Year® Bulb. They output approximately the same amount of light as regular 40-watt bulbs (570 lumens), but are shorter so they fit in our smaller lamps and only use 13 watts of power.   =)

A few days before that, we also tried a different kind of CFL (the folded vertical ones, not the spirals) from G.E., mainly because Wal-Mart sold out of the other ones. This one, the G.E. Soft White 60 Long Life Energy Saving Bulb uses 15 watts, but outputs 800 lumens (about the same as a normal 60 watt bulb) - and lasts twice as long (about 3,000 hours).

Since I really like Dreyer's Whole Fruit^TM Fruit Bars, I've tried some more of their flavors during the past week, including Wild Berry, Lemonade, and Creamy Coconut. Honestly, the berry ones are the best (Strawberry and Wild Berry), while the other two aren't as great.

Yesterday, Misti attended a Tupperware party at Jennifer Gibson's house. Then we went downtown to check out the Reno Chili Cookoff, but everything was shutting down, so we grabbed some El Pollo Loco instead. Misti absolutely loves the Chicken Tostada Salad and pink lemonade combination. It's got to be at least 450% pure fat, but it sure tastes good. (Does that count as a "sensible meal"?)

There was a great interfaith discussion in between the Conference sessions on T.V. this morning. They had several different theologians discuss the virtues of 'Mormonism' and Temples. While the Jewish representative and some other professors had some really excellent comments, I was particularly impressed by the wisdom of the representative from the Lutheran Church, Bishop Krister Stendahl. He stated his "Three Rules" that must be adhered to in any comparitive religion discussion, viz.: 1) For information about a religion, ask representatives of the faith itself, not it's critics, 2) Don't compare your "bests" with their "worsts", and 3) Leave room for 'Holy Envy'. (The latter refers to not being afraid to acknowledge that desirable tenets from other beliefs or traditions are okay to respect even if they're not included in your chosen belief system.)