Under construction

Here's a new house going up on the Ketchikan waterfront. Looks like it's going to be a nice place.

Extreme Short Shrift tonight, I'm afraid. I've been home with LRN12 while the other Loyal Readers were at Mutual. LRN4 was guest-teaching and LRN2 was attending. He was a bit disappointed. Apparently, the priests were supposed to do something with the full-time missionaries, who never showed up. Not good, and they may be hearing about it later.

Otherwise, a normal day. Much cooler than recently, as predicted, and pretty windy. Winter's on its way. LRN1 reports that it didn't get out of the 40's or 50's today in Provo. Brrr.

Today's food violence news: fruit rollup thieves. These people just keep getting lower and lower.

See you tomorrow.

TV watcher

Here's LRN12 watching Beauty and the Beast this evening at the Secret Undisclosed Location. She's staying with us for a while. It's great to have her here. Just got here this evening. Medium-res picture courtesy of the famous iPhone-cam.

No post yesterday. I got home a little late and had a few other things to do.

The weekend was fine. Not much to say about it. Got some things done. Didn't get other things done.

One thing we did finally accomplish was to get new tires on LRN4's car. Tried to go the cheap way by just replacing the two that were bad with some inexpensive BF Goodriches at Costco. They finally got them done and we took the car home. While I was following LRN4 in my car, I noticed that the tires looked a little skinnier than the old ones. So I had a look after we got home and discovered that they were the wrong size. So we went back to get the right size. But they then discovered that the older tires were a different speed rating than the new ones. So we had to buy four tires. I opted for the Michelins, which are great tires, and were on a good enough sale that they were essentially the same price as the Goodriches. LRN4 left Costco to get ready for the Relief Society broadcast (which was reported to have been very good), after which they informed me they only had three of the tires I had bought. So they left one of the old ones on, and LRN4 is going over there tomorrow to get the last one. Sheesh.

Otherwise, nothing happened.

We'll end today with a cautionary tale for my Loyal Readers: here's what happens when you commit food violence. Just say no.

See you tomorrow.

Plier hammers

Here's yet another exhibit in the world-famous Hammer Museum. I love these hammer-pliers. I want some. Really. Christmas is coming.

Extreme Short Shrift. It's already time for bed.

We've been watching some episodes of an interesting television show from Netflix. It's called The Big Bang Theory. I can relate to the super-geniuses. Of course.

Good weekend coming. You have a good one too.

I'll leave you with today's Morrowlife legal advice: get your rest at home.

See you on Monday.

Eagle

Here's an eagle. Saw it on top of a tree in the Ketchikan harbor. During our Ketchikan harbor tour. It's kind of zoomed way in, but I thought it was cool seeing so many baldies. Part of my famous Bird series.

There hasn't been much content here lately. That doesn't seem to have upset my Loyal Readers too much, but I do feel they need to get a little more for their money. What money? Well you may ask. The answer: none to speak of. But one or two of them may click on my advertisements and earn me a penny or two.

Anyway. I think the lack of content is largely due to the lack of anything interesting to write about. That wouldn't normally be considered a problem on the Morrowlife blog, but still. So let's think of something interesting going on in my life.

Plans for next summer are starting to firm up already. A little. We have Young Women camp during the week of July 15. And the family reunion for LRN4's side of the family is also probably going to happen in July. Don't know when yet. Don't exactly know where yet either, but it appears to be narrowed down to a cruise to Catalina and Ensenada vs. a train trip to the Grand Canyon via the route taken in the pre-automotive days. We voted for the train ride, but we'd do either and be happy.

Nothing else is on the 2010 vacation itinerary at this point, but I imagine we might want to take our Spring Break campout, along with several other shorter camping trips. Don't know where to go in the spring. This year's trip to Mt. Madonna was way too cold to repeat. The previous two trips to Big Sur were beautiful, but you can only go back to the same campground so many times. Especially when it's in the middle of nowhere and you've been to everything and seen everything around it as much as you really ever expect to want to. Admittedly, it's a beautiful middle of nowhere, but still.

So do any of my Loyal Readers have a suggestion for next spring's camping trip location? Here's your chance to really make a difference in the world. Don't blow it.

I had been having massive problems with the iPhone OS 3.1 update, like many, many other people. My most common problem was what people are calling Coma Mode. You put it to sleep and can't ever wake it back up again without rebooting. It was happening one to two times a day, and was very annoying. I also had one instance of it locking up in the middle of a phone call. I read the blogs and Apple help groups, and lots of people are recommending pretty harsh treatments, mainly consisting of resetting the phone to factory settings and reinstalling everything, and then not upgrading to 3.1. One or two people, however, recommended turning off Push notifications and disabling Safari's Fraud Warning function. I tried those things, along with deleting the one and only app I had that used Push, two days ago (or was it yesterday?) and haven't had a single crash since. Of course, past performance is not necessarily an indicator of future results, but I'm cautiously optimistic. It was getting tedious.

So for my iPhone-owning Loyal Readers who are having crashing problems with your OS 3.1 update, you're welcome.

Many thanks to LRN1 and LRN4, who pointed out that yesterday's Monkey news also qualified as Food Violence news. I appreciate your involvement.

That's enough for today. Let's end with today's Toilet News: the ultimate running toilet.

See you tomorrow.

Automotive hammers

Here's a wall full of automotive hammers. I want to know what that long, skinny one is for. Certainly no car I've ever owned.

Juggernaut update: I'm up to $14.78. I'm not sure whether that's an improvement over the last time I looked. Click, Loyal Readers, click like the wind! And buy my sponsors' products.

No post yesterday. Tuesday evening meetings went quite late and I was quite sleepy. Oh, the suffering my Loyal Readers put up with.

Extreme Short Shrift yet again tonight, too. My brother-in-law Ken was here on one of his periodic work-related visits. We had a nice time visiting and were delighted to see him. He's always nice to visit with.

Otherwise, normal day. I spent it in meetings. Pretty much exclusively. I meet so my people don't have to. The sacrifices I make for big-time engineering.

So I'll leave you with this new, exciting job opportunity: shoving monkey. Stay out of court, though.

See you tomorrow.

Fire department

Here's LRN4 in front of the Port Chilkoot Volunteer Fire Department, in Haines, Alaska. Fortunately, they don't have very many fires there.

Actually, they have a very nice fire department now, but I kind of like the old one.

No post on Friday. Thanks for Anon for noticing. It was my off day, which always seems like Saturday to me. So I forgot.

Fine weekend. Successfully worked on the Suburban's brakes. Successful in the sense of it isn't any worse now than it was before I started, that is. I don't know what I'm going to do with that truck. Maybe professional help is needed. After I spent a couple hundred dollars. But at least I now have a really nifty pressurized bleeder.

Did some church stuff on Sunday. Also Saturday, come to think of it. The good thing on Saturday, though, was that LRN4 and I went to visit LRN5. We went out to dinner at a Mexican place near her house. LRN5's meal was great. LRN4's meal was mostly great. Mine was about 30% great. I loved my chile relleno. My chicken enchilada, chicken flauta, rice, and beans were just okay. Still, the company was great and I enjoyed my meal without overeating.

Normal day today. The trains ran on time and I got a few things done. Wasn't watching the clock this afternoon and I left at about 4:23, while my previous late departure had been at 20 minutes after the hour. The traffic was light and the stoplights mostly fell in my favor, so I made it with plenty of time to spare. No complaints. I just have to remember to fill out my time tomorrow morning.

Otherwise, the situation is normal around here. I do have some fairly shocking food violence news: cow attack! I realize some of my more literal-minded Loyal Readers may think it's a bit of a stretch to call this food-related news. But the guy was milking the cow. And he did get squished, intentionally or not. Violence can be unintentional. So I'm counting it.

See you tomorrow.

ATV lake

Here's a pretty little lake we stopped at on the way back to the ship from our ATV ride. We put the water to good use on our faces.

Another Extreme Short Shrift day today. I just got busy.

Fortunately, tomorrow's my off Friday, so there will be time to get some things done, including possibly blogging more than a paragraph. Also, the Suburban's brakes will be (re)done, two or more of the Sable's tires will be replaced, the Sable will be aligned, and the Miata's tires may or may not be replaced, depending on how worn out they look tomorrow morning. Plus, I have to write my talk for Sunday and do a few other church-related things.

Otherwise, not much on my plate.

I have more horrifying food violence news: the Big German Baked Bean Ripoff. The depravity continues.

See you tomorrow.

In port

Here's our cruise ship at the pier in Haines. Looks kind of lonely there, doesn't it? Surprisingly, they don't get many ships there. Most of them go a little further away to Skagway, which is also supposed to be a nice town. I'll bet it's a lot more touristy, though.

Yet another normal day. Sunny and warm. Worked and came home. The Loyal Readers did what they do. Nothing to see here folks; move along.

So we'll end prematurely with the latest shocking food violence news: a chili heist! This may be worse than stealing a Big Boy statue.

See you tomorrow.

Household favorite

Here's a great hammer. I want one of these things. You got your tack claw, your hammer, your wrench, your lifter, and your ice axe. And it's all made of convenient cast iron! I can't imagine anything better. Photo taken at the world-famous Haines Hammer Museum, of course.

Normal day again. No complaints, no explanations.

We're sitting around watching The Mouse that Roared. It stars Peter Sellers and tells the story of the bankrupt tiny European nation that decides to declare war on America so they can immediately surrender and then get foreign aid. The only problem is that they win. Funny movie, and it was followed up by the equally funny The Mouse on the Moon. Good fun and highly recommended.

So let's have today's mystery good news. I swear I had absolutely nothing to do with it.

See you tomorrow.

Hammers

Here's a bunch of hammers in Haines's famous Hammer Museum. It turned out to be a really cool place, strangely. They have more hammers in there than you can shake an . . . um . . . hammer at. Highly recommended to future Haines visitors.

No, not this Hammer museum. Although that looks like a good one too.

Rainy weekend, which is unusual around here this time of year. We enjoyed it. Managed to wash all four cars, three of which are still clean. The Suburban's WAY cleaner than it was before, too. Didn't get much accomplished otherwise. LRN4 and I took LRN2 and his friend Josh up to Lodi for a fireside on Saturday night, and we went to the nearby Velvet Grill and Creamery. It turned out to be a nice little family restaurant and ice cream emporium. And their tomato soup was delicious. I had fish and chips (good fish, overcooked chips) and LRN4 had a great baja burger and the aforementioned soup. We'd go there again.

Also managed to prepare my priesthood lesson on time and under budget. I think it went fairly well.

Normal day. The trains ran on time, fortunately. They were pretty crowded because of the rain, thus proving my Friday prediction of empty cars to be slightly inaccurate. I claim the rain exemption.

Had a nice evening home with the family. Also a nice family home evening.

We have more monkey-related job opportunities for my Loyal Readers - underwear stealing monkeys. Just stay away from the cactus and you should be fine.

See you tomorrow.

Dirty reader

Here's LRN4 on her Alaskan ATV. She got a bit dirty too. We sure had fun, though. Pretty scenery and a fun ride. At least I thought so, anyway.

Rough, rough ride home tonight. The locomotive broke down in Pleasanton, which turned out not to be pleasant at all. They tried to get it working right, but to no avail, so we had to wait until the train after ours got there, wait some more while they hooked the two trains together, and wait even more while the train went about half as fast as usual. They made us get out of our train at the station and wait out in the hot sun for about half an hour, and then we had to crowd in with the other crowd in their train. Took four hours. Sigh.

But the weekend's here and nothing can stop my fun. Maybe a little work too. At the very least I have to prepare my Priesthood lesson. And the Suburban is truly filthy.

Speaking of the Suburban, the new brake lines arrived yesterday. Maybe I should take the time to install them. We'll see.

LRN2's out at his friend Josh's house this evening. LRN1's out eating sushi. And LRN4 is working on a new comforter for our bed. It's looking real nice.

And we're just finishing up watching The Trouble with Angels. Hadn't seen it since I was an uncouth youth. It's no better now than it was then. The most depressing comedy I've ever seen. Not recommended.

We'll end tonight with some food-related violence. Sort of. Stay away from the fridge.

See you on Monday.

ATV guy

Here's your Blogger (the person, not the oft-broken-but-apparently-working-just-fine-right-now service) during the rest stop on our Alaska ATV adventure. Got a bit dirty.

Another busy but uneventful day. I held an all-hands meeting with my people to talk about our near future. The news wasn't all that good, but I think people appreciated knowing the program's status. I'm certainly glad they know now. I think everything will work out fine, but we have some pretty big challenges in front of us.

Uneventful car, train, and car rides on both ends. The trains have been pretty much on time (only late on Massive Meeting Tuesday afternoon, as always, for some reason) and not overly crowded. Ridership is most definitely down since gas got cheaper a year or so ago. They've dropped the extra cars they had added to the trains and the crowds are still relatively small.

Not that I like crowds of any size. I'd really prefer a private train car. Hmmm. Must add that to my Christmas list this year.

The weekend is already upon us tomorrow. I need to prepare a Priesthood lesson for this Sunday and a Sacrament Meeting talk for the following week. Both of which I'm doing as a stand-in for other people. Not that I mind. Much.

So let's have some long-overdue toilet news: Don't break one, whatever you do.

Life preserver

Here's some shipboard safety equipment. Fortunately, we never needed it. The strange thing about the safety equipment, though, was that the lifeboat drill was held indoors in the theater, not around any of the actual lifeboats. Apparently, they figure that any disaster will be slow-moving enough that there's time to take in a show first. Or something like that.

No posts Monday or Tuesday. Monday was a holiday and felt like the weekend. Tuesday was Massive Meeting Tuesday and there simply wasn't time. Not that anybody cared.

Normal weekend. It was nice to be home for four days, but I didn't really accomplish anything. Got the brakes changed on the Suburban and it didn't help. I've ordered new stainless steel braided brake lines and this really cool bleeding apparatus. I'm hoping they'll help at least a little.

Otherwise, went to a picnic and didn't really do anything else.

Normal days yesterday and today. There's really nothing to mention.

There is some food violence news, though: a pizza kidnapping. Pretty low.

See you tomorrow. Probably.

Downtown Haines

Here's yet another shot of beautiful downtown Haines. Not a tourist trap in sight. We really liked that little town. Its background isn't bad either.

No post yesterday. I don't remember why, so let's skip the excuse this time. No complaints from Anon, at least.

Spent the day quietly at home. I replaced the front brakes on the Suburban, but I've come to the conclusion that they need to be bled. That will probably happen tomorrow morning. LRN2 has volunteered to help! If that doesn't work, I'll call all the money I've spent lost and put it in the shop for brakes (along with all its other problems). That's what I thought I did last time, but the thieves at Midas managed to screw up everything they touched. I discovered too late that they're under investigation by the state people responsible for investigating such things. Never again.

I also took the Miata and the Honda to the gas station. Also sat in the jacuzzi for a while. Also signed timecards. That's about the sum total of my accomplishments for the day.

Our dinner and evening with our friends Jim and Kathy was very nice. LRN4 and I really enjoyed ourselves.

We'll finish tonight with some recent food violence: beef jerky robbery. This is way worse than banana burglary. And to think that a barber - one of America's trusted hair-care professionals - is responsible. My confidence has been shaken. I may never get another haircut.

See you on Monday.

Win this boat

Here's the grand prize in a raffle run by the local radio station in Haines. It may not look like all that much, but it's certainly worth more than twenty-five bucks. A hundred? I'm not so sure. Part of my famous Machinery series. Really.

Quiet day. I'm counting 'em down until the holiday weekend, which starts less than 24 hours from now. Four days off, nice weather expected, a few pleasant things to do, a little work to get done (I probably should finally replace the brake pads and bleed the brakes on the Suburban, and pretty much every car could use a wash) (plus who knows what LRN4 has in mind?), and plenty of relaxation.

We're going over to the home of our friends Jim and Kathy on Friday afternoon for barbecue and fun. I'm looking forward to it. LRN2 is also going to try to crash a community college debate class that day. I guess if he can talk his way into it, he'll be well positioned to pass the class. We'll see what happens.

There are a few other things going on, none of which I can remember at the moment. Maybe tomorrow.

If any of my Loyal Readers are worried about being arrested for being a train-driving monkey, never fear. I have your back. Simply change to a police-eluding monkey! What could be simpler. More monkey-related employment opportunities as they arise.

See you tomorrow.

Cruising reader

Here's LRN4 standing in front of our cruise ship. Picture taken in Ketchikan. Or Juneau. Or maybe San Francisco. Or somewhere else.

Blogger's picture publishing is working again today. Their monthly "upgrade" must be over.

Not much to talk about tonight. Happy birthday to LRN3, though! I hope it was a great day. Sounded like it when I spoke with him this evening.

LRN2 and LRN4 went to the Lardville city council meeting this evening for a Duty to God requirement for LRN2. Sounds like it was entertaining, in a sick, politician way. Yuck.

For those Loyal Readers who aren't interested in working as state fair carnies, I offer this: train-driving monkey. Now that's a career you can stick with.

See you tomorrow