Space

Okay. It's warm enough, the kids are in bed, and it's the perfect time where Saturn is on it's way into the horizon and Jupiter is just on its way up. It's 10:30, Lisa's scrapbooking and I keep interrupting with "ooooo...hey Bean! Come look!" or "okay...last time...come check out Jupiter". Tonight was the first time in a few weeks I've been coherent after 10pm, and it was a great view tonight through the telescope. It wasn't collimated (the mirrors aligned perfectly), but it really got me excited to pull out the laser tomorrow for sharper images. 4 of Jupiters moons were visible and Jupiter itself was extremely gorgeous. This was the first time I've seen Saturn through a telescope, as it was only above the horizon during midday back in October and before there was snow :) Once I'm sure the telescope aka "water heater" (about the same size, thankfully lighter) is collimated, I'll bring the laptop and camera out to record Saturn and Jupiter and take some pics.

It'll also be fun when the moon is visible again during the 9 to midnight timeframe (dark enough yet coherent enough) to take some pics of it too. We're so blessed to have such a beautiful celestial object so close to us.

Wii Fat?

Ok. I'm sure we'll get Wii Fit someday, but you've got to enjoy the winning combination of wit, sarcasm, and attempting to defeat the whole purpose of the thing.

Check this out

Lost Item - please help find

President Hinckley

I love hearing President Hinckley's voice again. There was nothing more comforting than hearing and feeling love from someone you trust, as well as someone human enough to share how he's feeling through humorous stories. Enjoy!

Movies 2008

Okay. It seems I'm always the last to see movies as we rent them when they come out instead of taking out a heloc (home equity line of credit) to go see it in theaters. Here's my list for this year (click the name to watch the trailer). Let me know if I'm missing any good ones.

The Dark Knight

Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull

Twilight (for Lisa)

X-Files: I Want to Believe

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor

SkyMaps

I've really appreciate this free service. Each month a new Skymap is created to describe what celestial objects are visible during the month with the naked eye, binoculars, or by telescope. The weather is perfect right now and it's not too late to take the kids out when it gets dark, lay out the blanket and pillows, and look up at the stars, galaxies, planets, and constellations.

Robot lie detector

Tommy was a chronic lier. You could always count on him to lie when in trouble. So his dad showed up one afternoon with a robot. "What is that?" his wife asked. "That's the newest thing. It's a Truth Robot. It can detect the slightest indication that a person is lying."

When Tommy showed up two-hours late for dinner that afternoon, his dad asked, "Where have you been? "Oh, a-a-a. . ," said Tommy, "several of us went over to the library to work on a project for extra credit."

Suddenly the lights on the Robot started blinking and it walked around the table and bopped Tommy on the head. His father explained that this Robot can detect even the slightest untruth.

"Now," said his dad, "where have you been?"

"We went to Bobby's house and watched a movie."

"What did you watch?" asked his mother.

"A-a-a . .The Ten Commandments." answered Tommy.

The Robot lighted up and bopped him on the head, again. Tommy could see he couldn't keep this up so he readily admitted, "We really watched a movie called, 'The Nympho Queen.'"

"I'm ashamed of you," said his dad. "When I was your age, I never lied to my parents."

Suddenly, the Robot lighted up, moved over to where the dad was and bopped him on the head.

The mother commented, "Well, you can't blame him then. After all, he is your son!" To which the Robot lighted up, walked over to the mother and bopped her on the head.

Old posts

First. Let me apologize for the 100 posts of the past. I was helping my dad learn how to use blogger and google reader, when I realized his google reader had cached data from my old blog (glamiac.blogspot.com) that I deleted and have spent two months emailing back and forth with Google about trying to get back. Incidentally the blog was initially attached to a previous email address, which I've deleted, and they won't reinstate it. So, here's the sadness. At least I got 100 posts back (it was fun copying and pasting...let me tell you). I appreciate having these back, but wish I would have been smart enough not to delete my blogs (still missing my LDS Quotes blog), or that google would just save me time and LOTS of frustration (from my own stupidity).

You might notice I have 30+ entries on 5/23/07. It's just that I don't know the days those were posted as it's when my dad first used google reader (so all my previous entries shows downloaded on that day).

Divorce sucks

A few weeks ago I found out a couple we used to hang out with quite a bit are getting divorced. It always stinks to find out stuff like this, but even worse when it's from cheating, etc. With two kids (3 and almost 1), at least the kids aren't comprehending the implications. Lisa and I have been extra kind to each other the past few weeks, being grateful for each other and making sure we are more careful with our marriage. For anyone who reads this, please treat your spouse extra nice today and deal with any issues you have so this doesn't turn out to be you.

Light Switches

So the most wonderful thing happened about a week or two ago, and I forgot to blog about it. When we moved into this house, there were several pairs of light switches that turn on/off the same light. The thing that threw off the emperor's groove was that the lights would be off if one was up and one was down. Okay...yes...it bothered me...a lot. Evidently not enough to turn off the power and spend the five minutes necessary to turn the switches upside-down. But now...yes...what you've all been waiting for...the light switches are all down and the lights are all off!!!

Oh come on. How many of you walk in the dark down the hallway just to have both light switches down to have the light off instead of having them both up?

Sealing rooms

Lisa and I made a trip to the temple yesterday (thanks mom and dad for watching the kids). How apropos, that I was listening to a talk today from President Hinckley given at BYU about the temple (back in 1965). How we assume others understand terms we use in the church. President Hinckley said after an open house for a soon-to-be-opened temple, several members of the press, etc. asked questions like "how long do you leave them in the sealing rooms?" and "how long do you wait after they die to baptize the dead?".

If that didn't make you laugh, he shared this story at the beginning of his talk:

"You've heard this story before, I think I told it here some years ago or some time ago - the young man who registered for a class and loafed along all quarter. And then came examination day. He came into the classroom and the teacher wrote the questions on the board and he picked up his pencil and looked at his paper and wrote at the top of the paper 'Lord of Hosts be with us yet, lest we forget, lest we forget.'

And then he scratched his head and tried to recall in vain the answers. And time was finally called and he scribbled at the bottom 'Lord of Hosts forsake us not. We have forgot, we have forgot'."

Life in my office

Well...there's soon to be another life in my office. No. Not another Moore Engineering employee. My first office plant - a Calathea. I was thinking I'd first start with something I can keep alive. Just to transplant to a nice pot and I'm ready to sit and watch for hours. More blogs to come...in a few hours... (it's so beautiful...I can't help it....zzzzzt!)