How can I live without you?

This year has proven to be very expensive so far. After purchasing a new car and preparing to pay for knee surgery. We needed to review the Stark family budget to see where we could cut back. Jen and I both decided that we did not need satelliteTV to survive. We had recently starting getting instant downloads from Netflix via our Wii. We figured that Netfilx combined with the free over the air broadcast would be enough for our family.

So yesterday marked our first full day without satellite. I spent the morning crawling in our attic trying to connect an antenna to our home cables. Was surprised to find a very good antenna already in the attic left by the prior owners. The problem is that the satellitehad so many cables and strange connections that I'm not sure if I have the right cable connected to the antenna. Still cannot get channel 11 on one TV. But after I was done I felt confidant that we were now in a position to live without our ESPN, TNT, Disney & G4 channels.

The one thing that we already miss is the DVR. We really enjoyed being able to pause live TV and record and then watch whenever we wanted. But it is good for our kids to experience TV the way Jen and I did while we grew up. We had always felt that our kids had gotten very spoiled by having instant TV to enjoy and the ability to fast forward commercials. But because we miss it so much, we will purchase a DVR that works with over the air TV. Once we ensure that we really can survive without all those channels you pay 70 bucks for. :)

The fire will be coming around the mountain when it comes

Sunday certainly proved to be an eventful day that is screaming to be blogged about. Around 4 pm I walk out of a neighbor's house and notice a large orange cloud to the north. I look at it and exclaim "What could cause such a unusual cloud?" Someone yells while pointing to the south, "That Fire!" My jaw dropped at how huge the smoke cloud was from the now called "Machine Gun Fire." (Don't like that name.) The smoke was so thick that the only sun light that could get through was bright orange light. It made it appear like we were in Hell. (And not the one in Michigan.)

Turns out that the military, while doing some machine gun practice, started a fire on the south side of the mountain that our town lives on. Because of strong southernly winds the fire began climbing the mountain and headed north to where our town is. By late evening we could then see the fire's glow reaching the top of the mountain.

I serve as the Community Emergency Response Team leader (CERT) for our neighborhood. So I knew I had to be prepared to help. But seeing a fire running down a mountain towards your neighborhood is quite scary. So to easy our kids and Jen's mind. I sent them to my parents house for the night (voluntary evacuation) and prepared to help with the fire. I got my family out just in time. Because just as night fell, evacuation orders started coming into the selected neighborhoods (not ours yet) and the streets became more crowded than a Chinese traffic jam.

At this time, both Jen and her sisters called as they could not contact another sister who lived in Herriman and was closer to the coming fire. So I ventured forth (On foot since the roads were so congested) to check on them. That became the closest I've ever came to a danger. The closer I got to their home and darker it became. Ash started to get into my eyes and smoke was growing stronger. This part of town had received an evacuation order and people were scrambling to gather up belongings and get out before it was to late.

I found my sister-in-law's place dark and a car missing. Neighbors reported not seeing them all day so I assumed they were elsewhere and safe. Turns out they were visiting family and were trying to return while everyone else was trying to get out. They ended up returning to their family's home to wait and hope that their home would still be standing when they returned. Thankfully it survived but because of some open windows they have a strong smoke smell to contend with.

I returned to my neighborhood and went to a neighbor's house that had a HAM radio. Together we listened to city's communications and watched as the fire kept coming closer and closer to the town. To look at a mountain you look at daily and have it look like an exploding volcano can be a beautiful and scary thing. From a mile away we could see flames that had to be over 20 feet tall.

Hours went by and the fire came closer without anything hindering it. We knew from listening from the emergency communications that there were only 100 firefighters working to save us. Would there be enough?

All eyes focused on large house on the highest point of the mountain. It was rumored to be Jerry Sloan's house and was the first to meet the fire's approach. I was worried that if the entire city watched that home go up in flames, panic would ensue and more people would try to flee making evacuation a living nightmare.

I must admire those fighting the fire because they arrived at the home just as the fire did and was able to save it, twice. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5XA18ITjtyw

More evacuations were ordered as the fire began crawling towards us. By 3:30 am it finally had reached the bottom of the mountain and had a clear path towards our homes. But God smiled on us and the winds, which had been strong and forceful all night, changed direction and started pushing the fire back up the mountain where it had already consumed everything. Our town was saved by our hard working fire fighters and answered prayers.

It took a couple of days to get the fire contained enough to allow all the evacuees back in. My family was able to return the next day and we were thankful to have each other and our home safe. It was an experience I hope to never have to go through again, but feel stronger because of it. There certainly is nothing like home sweet home. (Which now smells like smoke. :)

BCS Elections

With the recent success of the Bowl Championship Series crowning their champion last night. The US government has decided to follow their example and award the office of President in the same fashion. Here is how the new BCS elections for President will work:

1. Only the top 6 states in the union can provide someone to be President. Sure there may be many talented and smart people from the other 44 states. But surely they cannot be better than anyone from the top 6 states. So there is no need to allow them a chance to run for President.

2. Only 2 people can truly be considered for the office of President. No more needing primary elections to narrow the field down to a candidate from each party. Just 2 and no more.

3. We will use polls that consist only of people who want to be president, former presidents, congress members, election judges, political commentators, reporters and any surviving signers of the Declaration of Independence to find the two candidates. Even though some of these people could receive a direct benefit from the outcome of the election. We feel sure that they will continue to provide unbias votes.

4. We will use computers as 1/3 of the deciding vote to narrow the canidates down to two. We will not require these computers to give us details of what creiteria is used to rank the canidates from the top 6 states.

5. Once the 2 candidates have been selected. We will only provide them access to public funds, air time on all media outlets & participation in debates.

6. People who wanted to run for President but could not because they were not in one of the top 6 states or were not voted 1 or 2 by the polls or computer rankings can still feel good. Because they are still Americans and that should be good enough and there is no need to feel bad about not being able to be President.

7. If anyone feels that this is unfair and want to petition congress, the justice department or the the courts for a redress of their grievances. They should realize that these departments have more important things to do than help provide justice or fairness on this issue. Justice and fairness is only given on important issues and this is not considered to be important enough to spend any time on.

With this new BCS election, everyone can feel good about the Presidential selection process, especially on how it will prevent anyone from some of those small states from even having a chance to be president. Besides, they can still compete to become the Speaker of the House or Senate majority leader. That should be enough for them, right?

I've given in

So the whole world is on facebook. I recently found out that my parents are on. So I've given in and have been assimilated into the collective. You can find me on facebook. If you are already on, please send me a friend request and let's get connected.

I now have a facebook account, blog and twitter. Along with all my other websites I like to check: like homestarrunner.com. Not sure if I will be able to keep up on all of them.

We will not forget, but sometimes wish we could

Obamacare, because Obama cares

After a summer of hurry to get this passed, then a pull back after Americans complained at town hall meetings. After taking a beating in the polls and seeing public opinion decline, President Obama finally gave us some details on what he wants to do with health care. I was thankful to finally gets some information as all I had gotten so far was commercials from pro-Obama groups saying, "don't believe what anyone says about Obamacare, except us."

I am grateful that Obama wants to increase some regulation of the health care industry and make changes like preventing non coverage due to pre-existing conditions. I am like the idea of tax credits for health insurance.

However I don't like the plan to require every American to have health insurance. There was a time in my life when I did not have it and did not want it at the time. I know that we require car owners to have auto insurance. But someone could choose to not own a car and therefore not purchase auto insurance. But someone could not choose to purchase health insurance. Is it right for us to require all people to purchase some thing they may not want?

This leads me to the public option issue. Requiring people to purchase health insurance will drive them to the government provided insurance. How is this different from England requiring our forefathers to purchase English tea before the revolutionary war? We as Americans did not want to be forced to buy something government provided, or encouraged, then. So why should we buy it now?

And since when did the Constitution stipulate that the people's government needs to provide health care to the people? That is not the reason why the government exists. Why would I trust the government that cannot correctly run a cash for clunkers program and bankrupts social security, medicare and the post office. The government is not the correct organization to run any of those things.

And I'm not buying the tale that the public option will not increase taxes, but instead will be paid for by more effectively running medicare. If the government is already ineffectively running medicare? Then how could we trust them to run anything effectively now?

I do hope that Obama is serious about working with both parties to improve our society. But lack the faith that this could be done when the Democrats in the house will not even let any non-democrat offer any amendments on the house floor and require all legislation be approved by them before it even gets the courtesy of debate. Looks like we are back to politics as usual.

MCSA finally achieved

Almost 2 years ago, I decided to improve myself by taking some classes and seeking a certification from Microsoft. Doing so would help me know how to perform my job better and make myself more marketable if I ever needed to re-enter the job market. So I began working towards my Microsoft Certified Systems Administrator(MCSA.) It required me to take 4 very difficult tests from Microsoft, each that took a number of on line classes, practice tests and a lot of studying.


The first test was about the XP operating system and proved to be very difficult. I had to take the test twice before I passed it. Microsoft tests in a very different way than any school test I've taken. It is multiple choice but tricky as heck. You need to read every word in the question to ensure you don't miss any details. Because if you miss just one word, you could misinterpret the question and get the answer wrong.


The last test was about using the Microsoft email system and I took it this last week, hoping to pass but if not, leaving time to retake the test to make my goal of passing it before October. Turns out I passed it on the first attempt and have now earned the following certification:

Yea Football season is finally here

After a very long drought from football all summer long. I will finally get to view some football again this week. The Utes will open their season on Thursday against Utah State and my brother has been very kind to let me come to his place and watch it. (Because Dish still does not have the Mountain channel, jerks) Then BYU will play a very significant game on Saturday against Oklahoma. A win there would help not only the Cougars but the entire Mountain West Conference. So go Cougars, make us all look good.

Last night I stayed up late to draft my last fantasy football team. Even though I drafted in the 10th out of 12 positions. I think I got a good team and I am excited to play.

It is going to be a very enjoyable football season, especially with the higher satellite package with more games to watch. My poor wife will be sick of football very soon. I should do something special for her. Any ideas on what I could do for her to make her OK with me watching football every weekend for the rest of the year? Last year I took her to see Mama Mia. How can you top that?

Busy week but fun nights

I have had a busy week due to a co-worker being on vacation and little old me doing her job as well as mine. But what has kept me going was being able to see the makers of Mystery Science Theater 3000 put on a live show that I caught last night. They riffted on a really old movie called "Plan 9 from outer space." The movie was terrible and so was extremely funny with Mike, Kevin & Bill making fun of it and giving a most funny commentary. They even showed a short from the 40s about an airline flight attendant, which had me rolling in the isle.

They say laughter is the best medicine. I would have to agree. Whenever you find yourself facing a lot of stress or sadness. Find that thing that makes you laugh and smile a lot and get as much of it as you can.

Sick son update

Because Michael's mouth has been hurting all weekend, he has not been eating, drinking or talking much. Monday started out the same way. He was hungry and wanted to eat, but did not dare try because of how his mouth hurt.

When I got home last night I started making dinner. Michael was following me around, grunting and whining, try to get me to give him food. So we decided to try chocolate pudding. We made it and put it in front of him. He played with it, but could not bring himself to eat it for fear of the pain.

After 10 minutes of playing with his food, Jen finally sat down with him and tried to feed it to him. After some coaxing, he finally opened up and took a small bite. Apparently it did not hurt much because he opened his mouth for more, this time a little wider. Before long he had ate the whole bowl of pudding and asked for more. So Jen gave him a second helping. This must have really got his confidence up, because he then asked for more food. We did not want to rush his food intake for fear that he may throw it up. So we had him take a break, during which he then noticed that it did not hurt to talk. So he gleefully yelled that his mouth was feeling better. And to prove it, he talked the rest of the night, ate some garlic bread and another helping of chocolate pudding.

Jen and I were relieved to see him feeling better and eating. But I kind of missed having a quiet house. :)

This morning he woke up, announced that he could talk, drink and eat again today. And proved it by eating 3 waffles and ordering 2 more. He is trying to make up for the lack of food he had for the past weekend. We are just glad to have our normal son back and hope that we can still contain his virus so that other don't get it.

Sick son

Michael began complaining about his mouth on Friday. Jen (Being the wonderful and caring mother that she is) took him to the doctor to get checked out. The doctor found that he had a virus in his mouth and told us that it would get worse before it would get better. And she was certinaly correct.

Saturday he stopped drinking and eating and cried about how his mouth hurt. Because it is a virus we could not give him any medicine to combat the virus. All we could do was give him pain reliever and try to keep him hydrated. This did nothing to stop his constant crying until Mother saved the day. Jen was so patient and caring to her son this weekend. She kept working on finding the thing he wanted, even while he could not talk due to the pain in his mouth. She finally got him distracted by playing children games on the Internet with him for most of the day.

Sunday he was doing worse as the lack of food and water was starting to take a toll on his body. I got worried enough to play the bad guy and force liquids into him. He did not like to be force fed, until he began to feel better by having more liquids in him. Then he began to turn around and is doing much better.

It is the strangest virus that I have ever seen. His tongue has got spots all over it and turned a very bright blue on the sides. Jen will call the doctor about it today. But we hope that we have seen the worse of it and that he will start to improve. Poor guy just has not looked good all weekend.

Staycation report

Last week, we pawn our kids off on my parents (thanks Mom & Dad.) I took work off and we started our staycation. It was nice to be able to just take care of ourselves, stay up as long as we wanted, sleep in as long as we wanted and do whatever we wanted. The 40th anniversary for the first moon landing caused many fine TV shows about the moon, NASA and the Apollo program available for viewing. I watched them until Jen was sick of her lunatic of a husband.

We enjoyed Herriman's local production of "The Music Man." It was nice to feel closer to our new community and enjoy a play. I had never hiked up to the cave in mount timpanogos and so did it. It was very enjoyable to pack up some water, turn on my ipod and take an hour hike up to the cave. The cave was very cool, (literally too.) But it was fun going through and see how nature has created some inner beauty. It was also cool to learn how the caves were discovered as well. If you have not visited this cave yet, get yourself some water and check it out. Your legs will be sore for 2 days, but you will love the memories.

We also enjoyed the latest Sandra Bullock movie, which was actually pretty good, except for a few nudity parts and an exotic dancer scene that will now prevent me from watching the office ever again.

When I was younger I did most of my temple work at the Salt Lake temple and enjoyed the live sessions. But since moving farther away and having kids, it had become increasing difficult to visit the SL temple and so we began attending other temples that were closer and easier to visit. But without any kids, we had the time to return to the SL temple and enjoy a session. It was nice to go through it again, especially since we were married there almost 8 years ago. We also visited Jen's former co-workers at the church office building. I used to come visit her there after my classes and we would enjoy lunch at the cafeteria. We took a trip down memory lane.

On Thursday we got our kids back, enjoyed a quite 24th and then visited with family on Saturday for the annual Nelson family reunion. This reunion was very enjoyable for me. Last year I was one of the presenters for the reunion and I enjoyed it very much. This year I was able to come and just enjoy the time with everyone without having to prepare a presentation. I am looking forward to next year and hope that my kids will enjoy them as they get older.

Our staycation was nice but I will ensure that the next one will be farther away from home. Far enough away that work cannot find me. They were persistent in apologizing for calling me, but continued to do so, especially the last few days of our staycation. My next job hopefully will not require me to be on call 24/7.

Harry Potter and the cliffhanger to get you to see the next movie

Jen & I had the pleasure of seeing the new Harry Potter movie on Wednesday night. Quite an experience to watch it with a theater full of children and teenagers. You could tell that many of them were girls when the Twilight trailer was shown and they all squealed with joy.

I have not read the 6th Harry Potter book yet and so was able to enjoy the movie without knowing the end result.(Except for the fate of a main character which was spilled by an article on sciwire. Darn website!) I enjoyed seeing a new Potter movie after 2 years of waiting. But just like the book does. The movie sets things up for the next movie rather than answer questions and entertaining you. We do learn more about Volumort's past and what is needed to battle him. But I think the good guys lose more than what they gain by the end of the movie and we are left wondering if things will not end up well for Harry.

It is just the the Empire Strikes Back. By the end the good guys are left at the short end of the stick and will have to battle against difficult odds to come out on top. The only thing missing from this movie was Snape admitting to being Harry's real father. Then it would have been exactly like Empire Strikes Back.

I did enjoy the movie and now that I've seen it, I want to read the 6th book. Does anyone have the 6th book on MP3 on in book form that I could borrow? I certainly recommend seeing it and helping the movie earn a ridiculous amount of money. The love stories involving Ron are very interesting and fun to watch.

Where am I?

ARRRRRR!!! Help! To busy to blog. Need vacation soon.

Crazy walk

Last night after dinner. Jen felt tired so I offered to take the kids on a walk while she rested. We are still new to our neighborhood and so I thought I would explore. We took a different route then our normal walks. But it was fun to see and meet new people. We ended up close to a county park. So we decided to go check it out.

While we were walking towards it I noticed a large group of people standing on the completely opposite end of the park. The play ground was total empty so we headed there. But just as we were getting close to it. A large fire engine pulls up and a plains clothes man gets out and starts hooking up hoses to the fire hydrant. The kids enjoyed watching the fire truck and then enjoyed the play ground. But then all the people from the group walked over and after arriving, the fireman began spraying water from his water cannon into the park. The kids loved running through the falling water and I just stood there dumbfounded at the sudden water party that materialized around us. I tried asking others if this was a ward or neighborhood party, but did not learn what it really was from anybody who knew.

We enjoyed the now water park until Karen reminded me that she had to use the potty for the 3rd time. There was no bathrooms at the park so we started our walk home. But we were still a ways away from home and Karen started doing the "I really need to go" dance. So I asked a man who was just getting home if my daughter could borrow his bathroom. He was kind enough to say yes and I sent Karen in while Michael and I admired an incredibly cleaner house then ours.

But then Karen stuck her head out of the bathroom and said she needed help. We come in to find that she went messy in her pants. (Guess she did not make it in time) and had made a mess in their bathroom. So here I am, in a stranger's very clean house, with two soaking wet children and a messy daughter with no change of clothes or diapers. Our walk had just started like any other. But it certainly did not end up like I'm used to.

After a clean up of my daughter and the bathroom. (And a chance for my daughter to learn what it means to go commando.) We resumed our walk home and after petting two dogs and saying hi to a neighbor, we finally reached home. Both kids needed baths to clean up for our "Walk." I don't know if Jen will let me take the kids out by myself again. But it certainly made our day anything but mundane.

So how was your day?

Carnivals and fun times

This is one of the best times of the year. The end of June till July 4th has plenty of community events like carnivals, festivals, parades and fireworks. Our kids are at the age where they really enjoy these activities and we as parents really enjoy seeing them smile. Here are a few of the events we did this past week.

Last Saturday we visited my parents in Cedar Hills. Their town was having a family festival that weekend. Thanks to grandma and grandpa, Karen and Michael got free passes to the festival where they rode on ponies, got face paintings, played in bounce houses and played bingo. We also enjoyed a BBQ with my parents and swam in their pool. We got home just in time to watch the Herriman Days fireworks from our own back yard.

Then on Monday, we took advantage of a gift card we had to a family fun center called "Boondocks" in Draper. It was a very short drive and lots of fun. Jen took Karen on the go carts while I took Michael in the bumper boats. (Michael is still too short for the cars.) We then took the kids into the "Kiddie Cove" which is a very large jungle gym type of place. Karen had a blast in there but Michael was nervous to go in. So I crawled through it with him and found myself enjoying things like a kids going down slides and stuff. I was probably breaking a rule by crawling through there with him, and it was not built for people of my size, but I absolutely loved it. I then took Karen on the bumper boats and we left determined to return again soon.

Last night Riverton started their town days events and had a family night at the carnival. All rides were only 1 ticket and you could get 2 tickets for a dollar. So for only $10 we rode the ferris wheel, the giant slide, the kids loved the mini roller coaster, train, cars and other rides. I even paid money to try the games that are always a cheat. But was able to pop a balloon with a dart and win a small stuffed California raisin for Karen. Jen was so proud that her man could win his daughter something. (Still a scam if you ask me.)

Doing these family events this past week has been an absolute pleasure for Jen and me. We have loved giving our kids enjoyable memories. And we have more to do this week. We will enjoy a parade on Friday evening and then fireworks on Saturday night. Do any of our family or friends want to join us?

Someone famous has died

My brother put this on his twitter and it was so good. I just had to share. Many of us saw this happen on TV this week. Click on the picture to see more.

Phil is on twitter

So I decided to try something. I will add my twitters to my blog. So when I twitter, it will show up here. I had to go public with my twitter in order to do this. Which means I will need to keep an eye on who follows me. I don't want people trying to sell me stuff via twitter. So if this works, I will keep it going. But if I get to many sales pitches or offers to check out someone's web cam for $3.99 a minute. Then I will remove my twitter from public access the stay private.

1766 vistors and counting

I have reached the highly valued number of 1766 visitors to my blog. When I started my blog, I had no idea who or how many would actually read my ramblings. But surprisingly many have read as well as commented my blog.

I had received well wishes during happy events. Others had empathized with me about issues I've faced. I have received some good comments on political discussions. One was from an anonymous commenter who raised some good points and I would have loved to known who the commenter is. Some I've agreed with, some I have not, but all I have enjoyed discussing.

I have also enjoyed linking to other blogs and keeping in touch with others. Like with my sister in California, a brother in Wyoming. Family and friends around the valley.

We have been encouraged to keep journals or diaries for future prosperity. My blog is the closing thing I have to that.

Thanks for reading. There will be more rants and ramblings in the future. Especially when football season starts up again. I can't wait for that.

Random things

June in Utah is normally a very hot and dry time. But this year it has been most unusual. Rain on most of the days, including my birthday. Not just small rain storms, but major downpours. Living in the desert, we are always thankful for rain. But I still cannot get used to it. Must be what it feels like to live in Seattle.

The new temple is having an open house for the next few months. Yesterday we took the kids and went through it. It is very lovely. I loved the design of the building, inside and out. Very good art, stone stairs and big light fixtures. Unfortunately, Michael wanted to touch everything and so was running all over the place. It was very difficult to keep him in line. Other than that, we enjoyed it very much.

I have been asked by a few friend on what is the best movie I have seen so far this year. I have seen X-men, Star Trek, Angels and Demons, Terminator and Up. (Only paid for 1 of them.) Of all the movies, the one I want to go back and see again is Star Trek. It was very good and I still enjoy looking up the trailer for it on the Internet.

While I blog I am checking out a new show called "Wipeout." It looks like the American version of MXC. I enjoyed that show and so far, I am enjoying this one two. Lost of spills, slips, falls and mud baths. Check it out if you want to laugh.