Welcome to WarCrack!

So I've done it... I've had my first taste. And it was good. And I want more. I've joined the 7.5 million users of World of Warcraft. It is lots of fun! I am currently a lvl 12 Warrior. The game has been really interesting. It's obvious that the creators worked hard to differentiate the game from others. I also had a hard time finding a name for my character. All the Book of Mormon names I wanted were already taken... even Romanian spellings of them. So I ended up with Lemuel. lol So I highly recommend the game.

Act vs. Overreact

This from the Denver Post:

This text is from a county emergency manager out in the central part of Colorado after today's snowstorm.

WEATHER BULLETIN

Up here, in the Northern Plains, we just recovered from a Historic event -- may I even say a "Weather Event" of "Biblical proportions" -- with a historic blizzard of up to 44" inches of snow and winds to 90 MPH that broke trees in half, knocked down utility poles, stranded hundreds of motorists in lethal snow banks, closed ALL roads, isolated scores of communities and cut power to 10's of thousands.

FYI:

George Bush did not come.

FEMA did nothing.

No one howled for the government.

No one blamed the government.

No one even uttered an expletive on TV .

Jesse Jackson or Al Sharpton did not visit.

Our Mayor did not blame Bush or anyone else.

Our Governor did not blame Bush or anyone else, either.

CNN, ABC, CBS, FOX or NBC did not visit - or report on this category 5 snowstorm.

Nobody demanded $2,000 debit cards.

No one asked for a FEMA Trailer House.

No one looted.

Nobody - I mean Nobody demanded the government do something.

Nobody expected the government to do anything, either.

No Larry King, No Bill O'Rielly, No Oprah, No Chris Mathews and No Geraldo Rivera.

No Sean Penn, No Barbara Striesand, No Hollywood types to be found.

Nope, we just melted the snow for water.

Sent out caravans of SUV's to pluck people out of snow engulfed cars.

The truck drivers pulled people out of snow banks and didn't ask for a penny.

Local restaurants made food and the police and fire departments delivered it to the snowbound families.

Families took in the stranded people - total strangers.

We fired up wood stoves, broke out coal oil lanterns or Coleman lanterns.

We put on extra layers of clothes because up here it is "Work or Die".

We did not wait for some affirmative action government to get us out of a mess created by being immobilized by a welfare program that trades votes for 'sittin at home' checks.

Even though a Category "5" blizzard of this scale has never fallen this early, we know it can happen and how to deal with it ourselves.

"In my many travels, I have noticed that once one gets north of about 48 degrees North Latitude, 90% of the world's social problems evaporate"

It does seem that way, at least to me.

I hope this gets passed on. Maybe SOME people will get the message. The world does NOT owe you a living.

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

2006 ends in 13 hours from now. It really doesn't seem possible. But I have to say that this year has been a great one. I'd even say one of my best since my mission. I've made a lot of good changes this year. But enough reminiscing. I hope that each of you had a great Christmas with your friends or family. I was only home for two and a half days, but they were all great. Saturday we had our extended family reunion. It went really well and was a no stress event! (For once!) Having Christmas eve on a Sunday was wonderful as well. It gave us time to think about the spiritual side of Christmas... the most important part. I'm very thankful that the Savior came to earth and even in the form of a helpless baby.

Christmas day was wonderful as well. My parents and I woke up and opened gifts. We all received and gave great gifts. A little later, my sister and brother-in-law and nephews came over. We had our traditional Christmas breakfast and then opened each others' gifts. My nephews *loved* the gifts I gave them. I'll say on my part that the Roboraptor was an awesome idea. After they left, my parents and I headed up to Logan to visit my brother and his family. We ate our traditional Christmas dinner there. Mmm... spiral cut ham and homemade mashed potatoes. Then we opened gifts. They loved their gifts as well. Family really is what makes Christmas important and fulfilling.

I hope that all of you had positive and eventful years. I do count myself lucky to have you as friends.

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!!!

Wow! Can you believe it?

(AXcess News) Washington - The world's oldest person dies at 116. Elizabeth Bolden, who was reported to be the world's oldest person, died Monday of age related illness. Bolden lived at nursing home in Memphis, Tennessee and according to media quotes of her grandson, she lived a 'remarkable life'.

Elizabeth Bolden was born Aug. 15, 1890 to a freed slave family. She married in 1908 and was the mother of 7 children, 40 grandchildren, 75 great-grandchildren, 150 great-great-grandchildren, 220 great-great-great-grandchildren and 75 great-great-great-great-grandchildren.

Bolden celebrated her 116th birthday in August, making her the world's oldest living person. Since suffering a stroke in 2004, Bolden was unable to speak, though at the time of her birthday she was alert and enjoyed eating ice cream while surrounded by members of her family.

No other member of Bolden's family has lived past the age of 100.

The Open House

I have to say that the open house was a success! Thanks guys for coming. I had a great time and I hope that all of you did too. We'll have to get together again after the New Year. Oh especially since I can now have spectacular movie nights with our new TV. I look forward to seeing you all again. Oh and as for the pictures, you should be able to click on them, enlarge them, and download them. Let me know if you have any problems!

Merry Christmas!

Some Trees from the Festival of Trees.

Word Cloud

This is my blog's word cloud. If you're unfamiliar with the concept, the size of each word reflects its frequency on my blog. I was looking for a word cloud that would update periodically. If you find such a thing, let me know. Otherwise, you can get your own word cloud here.

The Church has changed

*lol* But perhaps not in the way you think. During last General Conference I found this article
on the various changes the programs of the Church have undergone the in the last few decades. I learned a lot of things I didn't know before. I'll post a few of the interesting ones here.

Fast Day — Starting in 1896, Fast Day was set on the first Sunday of the month, instead of the first Thursday.

Priesthood advancement — The First Presidency formally adopted the ages of 12, 15, 18 and 21 as ages for deacon, teacher, priest and elder advancement starting in 1908. The age was reduced for teachers and priests to 14 and 16, respectively, beginning in 1954, and the age for elders was lowered to 19 at about the same time. Seventies quorums in stakes throughout the church were discontinued in 1986.

Primary — Presiding officers of the Primary were called presidents, rather than "superintendents," starting in 1942.

Student wards — The first appeared at BYU in 1956 and the practice expanded to other universities.

Home teaching — "Ward teaching" was replaced by home teaching starting in 1964.

*Jingle, jingle*

No, that isn't the sound of sleigh bells. It is the sound of keys. More specifically, the management keys to The Sharper Image. I received a promotion at work. I am now the Senior Sales Associate. And that makes me a member of management. Along with those keys I get a lot more responsibility and tasks. I can do returns now, open the locked cabinets for items, do mail and phone orders, close and open the store, count registers, etc. I also work full time, get a pay increase of a dollar, get benefits (such as paid vacation, sick leave, paid birthday), and insurance (health, dental, and vision). I'm really excited. I wasn't the only applicant, but my availability made me a good choice.

I have to say, it feels great to work somewhere where I am treated as an adult. All of my previous jobs, they didn't trust the employees. Asking for a day off was a hassle, rules had to be strict, everything was more difficult because there was no trust. But I guess that is how student jobs work. But I am very happy and very blessed to get this promotion. And my readers, when you have a chance, come in and visit me!

Words of Wisdom

1. The nicest thing about the future is that it always starts tomorrow.
2. Money will buy a fine dog, but only kindness will make him wag his tail.
3. If you don't have a sense of humor, you probably don't have any sense at all.
4. Seat belts are not as confining as wheelchairs.
5. A good time to keep your mouth shut is when you're in deep water.
6. How come it takes so little time for a child who is afraid of the dark to become a teenager who wants to stay out all night?
7. Business conventions are important because they demonstrate how many people a company can operate without.
8. Why is it that at class reunions you feel younger than everyone else looks?
9. Scratch a dog and you'll find a permanent job.
10. No one has more driving ambition than the boy who wants to buy a car.
11. There are no new sins; the old ones just get more publicity.
12. There are worse things than getting a call for a wrong number at 4 AM. It could be a right number.
13. Think about this..., No one ever says "It's only a game." when his team is winning.
14. I've reached the age where the happy hour is a nap.
15. Be careful reading the fine print. There's no way you're going to like it.
16. The trouble with bucket seats is that not everybody has the same size bucket.
17. Do you realize that in about 40 years, we'll have thousands of OLD LADIES running around with tattoos? (And RAP music will be the Golden Oldies!)
18. Money can't buy happiness -- but somehow it's more comfortable to cry in a Corvette than in a Yugo.
19. After a certain age, if you don't wake up aching in every joint, you are probably dead.

Steve Jackson has irked me!

Yes, our good friend Steve Jackson has done it again. The Illuminati expansion Bavarian Fire Drill has been postponed yet again! It was originally scheduled for May of 2006. Now it has been moved back (yet again) to January. When will it end? I got Illuminati for my birthday and I would really like this expansion to come out so I can buy it and the previous expansion. It is very frustrating.

In other news, one of my roommates has moved out. So I now have my own bedroom. I've started moving stuff in. It was Kristen who said that once you have your own bedroom it's very hard to share again. She is right!

Things are looking very good at work too. I can't put it up here yet, because it's not official and I'm not supposed to share... but it's very good news. I can tell you that I've done very well and in the past couple weeks I've sold three massage chairs. We get $25 bonuses for each one we sell. I really *love* my job!

Doua-zeci si opt

Yeah, I'm 28 now. And it feels good actually! My birthday was on the sixth. I had work that morning at ten AM. But before I left my roommates gave me Illuminati! Wahoo, now when the new expansion pack comes out, I will buy that as well as the old one. You will beware the Orbital Mind Control Lasers!

Work went by pretty fast, but it was no fun as I was at the worst of my cold. Grr, fever, chills, sore throat, aches, and achy sinuses made the entire day not quite as happy as it could have been. But I didn't let that keep me back.

After work my mom picked me up. I gave her a tour of the new place and she approved. Phew. Well, I knew that she would. It's a very nice place and very roomy. It's a big improvement over my last place. I went to my parents' place in Layton. I rested a lot there and took some meds. My mom gave me black clothes for work, some candy and some sorely needed new shoes. The black clothes were sorry needed too. I have to wear all black to work.

That night we went to my nephew's too. He was born on my sixteenth birthday. We had cake and ice cream and watched him open his gifts. (Everyone else ate, I didn't feel like it.) Those gifts included a drum set from his parents. Crazy parents!!

The next day I spent resting more and playing Upwords with my mother. Then I came home and went to work. After work is when I came and checked my mail and saw my e-cards. Thank you friends who sent those! I really enjoy them! Also thanks Bob for the phone call!

Two notes that are not birthday related. First, I've upgraded to the new beta blogger. It's really great and has good improvements. However, right now it says that I can't leave comments on non-beta blogs. So I've wanted to comment a couple of times and have been unable to do so. Sorry! Second, there is now a new Mega Monopoly that has a lot of ideas from my Super Monopoly. I'm going to buy it!! I'll let you know what it's like.



PS - I bought the game today!

Something new...

...and political! No, tonight I'm not bringing you anything trenchant (the original mandate for this blog). But it is political in nature. Last week I began watching a show whenever I see it on. It's Glenn Beck on CNN. I highly recommend it. He is conservative, but he doesn't care about party lines at all. So if Republicans or Democrats do something stupid, he points it out. Now I've never been a fan of political shows (radio or especially television) but Mr. Beck is entertaining. You learn something about the real state of politics in the United States but in an engaging manner. The other day a friend of a friend was over while I was watching the show. This acquaintance hates Glenn Beck, but I learned through him that Glenn Beck is LDS! (Glenn Beck was this person's relative's home teacher.) Yeah! And truthfully, I think it shows too. I checked on his site and Glenn Beck was baptized in 2000.

Check it out: http://www.glennbeck.com/home/index.shtml

Halloween is upon us!

Here are the pics for my zombie costume for the first Halloween party of the year! The really creepy dark pics were taken at home with my black lights. They turned out really well I think.





I tried out one recipe of blood vomit and it looked disgusting coming out of my mouth, but it didn't stick to me. So back to the drawing board with that idea.

Why do iPods suck?

As you know, I believe that iPods suck. There are many reasons for this, but now there is one more. Some of the iPods shipped in the last month have a virus on them. Yep! Now those lucky people who dock their iPods to their computer will get a virus. This is the first time something like this has happened... and I doubt it will be the last. To read the full article, go here.

The Second Amendment

You... are a part of me.

"I am a part of all that I have met....
Tho much is taken, much abides....
That which we are, we are--
One equal temper of heroic hearts,
...strong in will
To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield."


Today I remembered a quote that was on a poster in my AP English class in high school. It was the first stanza of the above quote. So I googled that and came up with the entire quote. Does anyone know where it comes from and who said it? I've always identified with that phrase.

Okay class,

It's time for a pop quiz! I know, I know... but you need to be tested to see if you are my friends.

Take it here.

The grading scale will be as follows:

8-10 correct: You know me well and ought to be considered a close friend.
5-7 correct: Fair weather friend? It must be raining outside.
3-4 correct: Maybe you've heard of me... my name is Scott.
2 correct: Would you even wave to me if we crossed paths?
1 correct: Lucky guess?
0 correct: Did you just stumble across this quiz? Stumble elsewhere.

How did you do? This test is also used to determine if you're a doppelganger alien replicon.

Hooray!

I have a job! Sharper Image just called and asked me to come in on the 2nd and bring all my information. Phew! I finally have a job in Salt Lake. I can finally start making money. I am dirt poor right now and I guess it'll take 2 weeks till I get paid, but hey I'll be making money! I've already started making a list of what I buy once I have paid my bills, what I owe, and have disposable income.

• a cell phone
• a video card
• materials to make a bunk bed
• new clothes
• clothes for work
• a 24 Hour Fitness membership
• World of Warcraft
• a digial thermostat
• "V for Vendetta"
• food, some good stuff
• Star Trek: Voyager, seasons 5-7
• Ninjaburger
• Descent: Journeys into the Dark
  
• And I'm sure I'll come up with some others.
• Renew my perscription and get new contacts
  

Also, I need to be thinking about when to have our open house and invite all you guys over. I'd like to play games with you. Especially Illuminati and Settlers of Catan! But, for sure we are going to play Murder in the Dark once it's dark. If any of you have ideas, let me know. Oh Kate and Gill, the Descent game in my list... you're gonna love it. I have a friend who has it.

I have a job!!

How dare you...

...insult Turkishness. I just read an article about an author who is bring tried because one of his fictional characters insulted "turkishness". Apparently it is illegal in Turkey to "insult Turkey, 'Turkishness' or the government." That is ridiculous. Not only is it a serious inhibition of free speech rights, but how do you define "Turkishness"? If I said that I thought Turkish Delight was disgusting (which is exactly the contrary) could I be arrested? It is Turkish afterall. This is coming from a country trying very hard to get into the European Union. But both sides of the issue are using the case to support their cause. The author did get acquited. So progressives are saying that Turkey is making progress. Traditionalists are using the proceedings to keep Turkey out of the EU. Personally, unless the government cannot see the absurdity of the law, then I don't think they should join. Truth is, they will have to give up *many* of their Islamic fundamentalist ways if they want to join the EU. You can look at that positively or negatively. Either way, they need to be willing to go all or nothing.