Lots of varied things have happened recently. First and foremost, Becky and I enjoyed an Owyhee Idaho Spud candy bar on Saturday (not to rub it in, Brad - sorry), but Misti did not enjoy it. She doesn't like the "guk" in the middle. Becky, upon hearing this, promptly replied that she does like the guk in the middle. Cute.

I finally got rid of the mystery "Linux IGD" gateway connection in my network connections folder. I've read several messageboards with people similarly afflicted, but none have mentioned the real problem with it: constant traffic. It would've been okay if the connection had just been there, silently not hurting anything, but there was a constant flow of data being transmitted (around 40 kbps) in the background. Very annoying.

Anyway, you'll only ever see this problem with this combination of factors: WinXP, Windows Media Connect update, and an ActionTec DSL router. Near as I can tell, the Media Connect update enables the Universal Plug 'N Play (UPNP) service in Windows XP. The Qwest-provided ActionTec DSL router/modem runs Linux internally and supports UPNP. Thus, when the two are connected, Windows XP will detect the router, and the UPNP service will automatically configure the router as an Internet gateway device, thus adding another connection in your Network Connections folder. The stinker, of course, is that it won't let you disable the connection (like any other normal connection would), so it logically raises a few eyebrows with it's seemingly spyware-like characteristics (can't disable it; constant flow of traffic).

Anyway, I got rid of it by disabling the UPNP and SSDP Discovery services and also by removing the Windows Media Connect update, as detailed on these sites:

http://snurl.com/iyue
http://snurl.com/iyug
http://snurl.com/iyuh
http://snurl.com/iyum
http://snurl.com/iyuo
http://snurl.com/iyup

(Perhaps this information will help someone else.) Last Friday, I enjoyed listening to a little Karla Bonoff and Velvet Underground on CD at work.

Misti scored some new Nike Air Monarch III shoes at JCPenney's recent "sweet sale" - 40% off!

While at the mall, we dined at the food court. I, knowing that Mike and Brad like Panda Express for their fortune cookies, decided to grab some Chinese food. I got shafted, however: no fortune cookie. =(

Becky, averting the whole lack of fortune fiasco, wisely chose Mcdonalds instead. Smart girl.

We attended the ward Elder's Quorum social Saturday afternoon, and enjoyed a little homemade root beer floats and volleyball in the Bodily's back yard. (An event I like to call the "Bodily function" - ha!) Becky enjoys sitting on my shoulders and spiking the ball over the net.

I finished reading "A Series of Unfortunate Events: The Miserable Mill" (book 4) by Lemony Snicket today. Speaking of books, the library bus was apparently broken this past weekend, so they substituted a van instead. Not the same. I'm finding that our local library system doesn't seem to be as sophisticated as the Washoe County Library System (i.e., that's my impression, anyway). =(

We attended the "Praise to the Man" Joseph Smith Fireside, Sunday night at the stake center. Misti and I spoke in church earlier in the day, on the topic of Family Home Evenings. I ran into Brad York from Nevada, too, in the church hallway. Small world.

I installed OpenOffice 2.0 yesterday and am trying it out. Okay, but, so where's the Publisher and Outlook alternatives? Hmmmm.