My week with the San Diego Fires

Monday - On Monday morning we received a call from Brock S. He told us that a fire had started close to our home. We lived down the hill from the fire area, so we weren't in immediate danger. On Sunday the Santa Ana winds started to kick up with more vigor then I have seen in years. We turned on the TV to see if there were any reports on the fires. At some point we gathered our stuff to get out at a moments notice. We also thought of the Taufa family. We called over to see if they heard the news and there was no answer. I walked over and gave them the news. I am sure they were wondering why I was knocking on their door at 4:00 AM.

We left our home and evacuated to the church building about 7:00. We watched the fires and smoke from there. The pictures below of the smoke were from the church building roof.

My Father in law and his wife stayed with us because their house was in the badly burned area.


This is what happens when the Santa Ana winds blow hard. Trees were down everywhere. These winds also brought in single digits humidity which made it perfect weather for fires.








This is a short crappy video of the of the area around my place after we went back home around 3:00 pm



Tuesday - This DVD player was a nice surprise on a gloomy week. The DHL guy knocked on our door and we had no idea what the package was. We got the DVD player for free from one of our credit card companies because of some promotion they had. We took the promotion three months ago so we completely forgot we were getting on. Good timing DHL guy!





Wednesday -
I went back to work today. At work I saw a blog post on Pcworld.com about a free flash drive. It showed up on Saturday...two free things on one week. Sweet!
http://blogs.pcworld.com/tipsandtweaks/archives/005758.html

This card was an early B-day card from my mother in law. Watch the video and you well see what it does. I thought the best way to use the card is to make a booty trap. I set up the card on the bathroom door next to where my in laws were sleeping. I figured that one them would get up in the middle of the night so I set it up to when they opened the door it would go off. The next morning I asked Dave if they got a bathroom surprise. He said that he got up at 3:00 am and got attacked by my booty trap. I was hoping that it would get his wife because her reaction would have been better but I will take what I can get.










Thursday -

Jamie went our for a girls night out. I figured that she would be home about 10:30 so I set her up with a card booty trap. When she got home I acted like I was asleep and when she walked into the bathroom she gasped when the card when off. She said she wasn't scared...but I think differently.

Friday -

This video is filmed down the road to Rancho Santa Fe from Escondido and in Rancho Bernardo.

**Note** The video is Divx so you may need to download the player. Also give it a few minutes to load. The video is not great but half way througth you can see some of the really bad burned areas.



Saturday -

The air quility improved enought over the week that we still had our trunk-or-treat. good times.







This is Brandon, Lianna, and Dean.

Rude Vader

No one calls me

I haven't received a call on my cell by anyone besides my wife in 10 days. I changed my message two weeks ago and finally my dad and brother called me and heard it. I am a loser and proud of it.

Spiritual Promptings For Friends, But Not Family

Through out my adult life I can remember many times when I was prompted to help a friend. Most times I would feel something inside me stirring that got my attention. Then some thought would come to me. The thought would some times come fast and others times it would come after some pondering. After the direction (thought) came, I would go to action and find someone in need and do what I could for them. I haven't had an experience like this for a few years until tonight. I was at priesthood session and I ran into an old friend for my old ward. He went on to say that a another friend named Randy just started to come back to church and he was asking about me. I was astonished to hear that he was asking about me because just a week ago I can distinctly remember walking up the stairs to my apartment getting a strong impression to call Randy. It wasn't a magical heavenly message. It was just a thought, but now that I look back I also remember the thought was a little stronger then other thoughts. I didn't do anything about it at the time. The thing that really got me to connect the dots was when my friend at priesthood said, "You must have made an impression on Randy because he was asking about you..." After he said that, it made sense to me why I had a random thought to call a friend I haven't seen in three plus years. I don't know about you, but I can't think of a better feeling than the one that comes to you when you realize that God was talking to you to help one of his children. The best feeling ever! I hope to find his number tomorrow to call him.

Like I said at the beginning of this post, I have had this experience to help friends yet I can't remember a single time in the five years I have been married where I felt an impression like that. I am not asking for one. I just find it strange that it has never happened. I guess my family doesn't have a problem that a cell phone can't fix...Oh wait, I can remember one time when the spirit spoke to me about my family. Not a story I can tell you though.

So now that I just remembered an experience you may be asking yourself, "What was the point of this post?" And my answer is... I Don't Know! Have a good day.

Stella Awards

I got this in an e-mail. I don't think half of this stuff is true, but it is funny.

It's time again for the annual "Stella Awards"! For those unfamiliar with
these awards, they are named after 81-year-old Stella Liebeck who spilled hot
coffee on herself and successfully sued the McDonald's in New Mexico where she
purchased the coffee. You remember, she took the lid off the coffee and put it
between her knees while she was driving. Who would ever think one could get
burned doing that, right?
>
> That's right; these are awards for the most outlandish lawsuits and verdicts
in the U.S. You know, the kinds of cases that make you scratch your head.
>
> Here are the Stella's for the past year:
>
> 7TH PLACE:
> Kathleen Robertson of Austin, Texas was awarded $80,000 by a jury of her peers
after breaking her ankle tripping over a toddler who was running inside a
furniture store. The store owners were understandably surprised by the verdict,
considering the running toddler was her own son.
>
> 6TH PLACE:
> Carl Truman, 19, of Los Angeles, California won $74,000 plus medical expenses
when his neighbor ran over his hand with a Honda Accord. Truman apparently
didn't notice there was someone at the wheel of the car when he was trying to
steal his neighbor's hubcaps.
>
> 5TH PLACE:
> Terrence Dickson, of Bristol, Pennsylvania, who was leaving a house he had
just burglarized by way of the garage. Unfortunately for Dickson, the automatic
garage door opener malfunctioned and he could not get the garage door to open.
Worse, he couldn't re-enter the house because the door connecting the garage to
the house locked when Dickson pulled it shut. Forced to sit for eight, count
'em, EIGHT, days on a case of Pepsi and a large bag of dry dog food, he sued the
homeowner's insurance company claiming undue mental Anguish.
> Amazingly, the jury said the insurance company must pay Dickson $500,000 for
his anguish. We should all have this kind of anguish.
>
> 4TH PLACE:
> Jerry Williams, of Little Rock , Arkansas , garnered 4th Place in the Stella's
when he was awarded $14,500 plus medical expenses after being bitten on the butt
by his next door neighbor's beagle - even though the beagle was on a chain in
its owner's fenced yard. Williams did not get as much as he asked for because
the jury believed the beagle might have been provoked at the time of the butt
bite because Williams had climbed over the fence into the yard and repeatedly
shot the dog with a pellet gun.
>
> 3RD PLACE:
> Amber Carson of Lancaster, Pennsylvania because a jury ordered a Philadelphia
restaurant to pay her $113,500 after she slipped on a spilled soft drink and
broke her tailbone. The reason the soft drink was on the floor: Ms. Carson had
thrown it at her boyfriend 30 seconds earlier during an argument. What ever
happened to people being responsible for their own actions?
>
> 2ND PLACE:
> Kara Walton, of Claymont, Delaware sued the owner of a night club in a nearby
city because she fell from the bathroom window to the floor, knocking out her
two front teeth. Even though Ms. Walton was trying to sneak through the ladies
room window to avoid paying the $3 .50 cover charge, the jury said the night club
had to pay her $12,000....oh, yeah, plus dental expenses. Go figure.
>
> 1ST PLACE:
> This year's runaway First Place Stella Award winner was Mrs. Merv Grazinski,
of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, who purchased a new 32-foot Winnebago motor home. On
her first trip home, from an OU football game, having driven on to the freeway,
she set the cruise control at 70 mph and calmly left the driver's seat to go to
the back of the Winnebago to make herself a sandwich. Not surprisingly, the
motor home left the freeway, crashed and overturned. Also not surprisingly, Mrs.
Grazinski sued Winnebago for not putting in the owner's manual that she couldn't
actually leave the driver's seat while the cruise control was set. The Oklahoma
jury awarded her, are you sitting down, $1,750,000 PLUS a new motor home.
Winnebago actually changed their manuals as a result of this suit, just in case
Mrs. Gra zinski has any relatives who might also buy a motor home.

IPhone Fun

The Magic Numbers

I took this photo with my iPhone. I have been waiting for this mileage for a long time. Today is the greatest day!

Moon (Mooning) Amtrak 2007

My old phone

I just sold my old Verizon LG phone on Ebay. To prepare it for shipping I have been cleaning out the old contacts, mail, photos, etc. As I went through the text messages I found a few that I had kept. Here they are for my memory and your viewing pleasure.

June 15 2005- From Jamie: She just crawled!
She is my daughter and she was born Dec 2 2004. You do the math.

June 22 2005- From Jamie: Jesse's car wasn't really stolen after all. He just forgot where he parked it.

Jan 24 2006- From Ian: I just drank a quart of chocolate milk. Why did I do that? The world may never know.

Jan 25 2006- From Ian: I had college last night. I cooked and ate your whole family last night. Isn't that great!
Click here to learn what Ian is referring to.

Jan 25 2006- From Jamie: Today is national good looking person day. Send this to someone gorgeous. Don't send it back to me. I've received hundreds!

April 12 2006- From Josh: There was a bee flying close to me and I saw it poop!

Ang 30 2006- From Jamie: Someone filled the fountain with soap again.

Oct 5 2006- From Josh: Interesting wallpaper you picked for my computer.
The story behind this one is I borrowed a laptop from Josh for a while. One night when friends of ours babysat Rachel, we came home to find David Hasselhoff as the wallpaper on the laptop. The babysitter left us a priceless picture. We left the wallpaper on the computer when I gave the computer back to Josh.

Nov 1 2006- From Jamie: I just saw a license plate that said "In case of rapture, this car will be unmanned."

March 31 2007- Corey T: I am watching u - I am on special assignment for CJ - u better be reverent.
I was at general conference when I got this text message. Corey is a counselor in the elder's quorum.

The iPhone in two days

Yes, I am planning on getting in line for the iPhone. I am going into work a few hours early so I can get out early. The stores close down at 4:30 and reopen at 6:00. At the witching hour only iPhone customers will be served. Jamie and I will be getting an iPhone and a Palm Treo 680. I am excited about my phone and Jamie is excited about hers. I know the bill is great but that is the reason I sold out my blog to sponsored posts. I have made over $400 bucks doing it. We need to sacrifice some things to get other things. BTW, I am still waiting for pants peed stories. See previous post.

Blog Traffic

One thing that baffles me about Pay Per Post is it's business model. Is it an advertising company or a link service? PPP has companies come to them in order to get bloggers to write about products and set links up. One of the basic laws of the internet is the more links you have to your site, the more search engines will find your site. I venture to say that it is a link service.

In essence I guess PPP is both. I don't know how many people who read blogs really go to the advertised sites, but I do know that with all the links there will be a lot more people to find the companies through search engines.

Spy show are cool (Burn Notice)

Here I am again making a video. I am sure you are sick of seeing my face on my blog. I don't blame you. There is a new show about a CIA agent on the USA network. The show is called Burn Notice; that is kind of a silly name, but we will see if it is a silly show. Over the years USA has made some good shows. The one I know the best is Monk. Spy shows are cool most of the time, so check out USA Network's Burn Notice.

A week left

The iPhone is coming out in a week and half. I have been working on the side for this phone for the last couple of months. Frankly, I am sure you are tired of hearing about it and I am tired of talking about it. I just want to go the next week without hearing about it. I just want to live one day where I don't think about the 29th. I know the once I get the phone the excitement will come back to me. Then a few days later my excitement will be gone. That is the way of electronics.

Friends on the Road.

I nearly never see people I know in the road. Driving a scooter requires all my attention not allowing me the pleasure of staring people down while driving. I actualy don't stare because I hate it when others do it. Just keep you eyes on the road and stop looking at me you freaks... Well anyway, while driving to work on Wednesday I saw a green Civic in front of me. The person waved at me, so I pulled up next to him. It was Brock S. I talked to him for a second waiting for the light to turn green. I thought that was a once in a blue moon thing (there was a blue moon on May 31 by the way). On Thursday the blue moon came back. Again, while going to work just after pulling out of my complex, I was driving and a truck pulled up in my left and honked. Inside was my friend CJ. Crazy eh!

FYI, I am breaking my one sponsored post a day rule now because I need to pay for the boy scout pledge. Breaking it just this once though. The rule is subject to change at any time.

Boy Scout Pledge.

About three months at church, a member of the bishopric stood up in priesthood and made an announcement. He spoke about the Friends of Scouting program. This program is very simple. Once a year, the scouts ask all their would be friends to give money to support there dubious activities. During the announcement I thought, "I am going to fill this out because if I don't Jamie will got on me". I took a pledge form and filled it out for a million dollars (I am not going to tell you my real donation amount, I am not a donate and tell). So like I said, that was a few months ago. So yesterday, we get in the mail the donation form to send in with the money I pledged. And to my surprise Jamie said "This is the forth time they have sent us this. I am not giving them money when we can't pay our own bills".

Well, it goes to show that when one tries to anticipate what his wife wants done, the wrong option is picked. I guess I have to pay this pledge with my iPhone money. I made the pledge and I plan on keeping my commitment.

Naruto

Besides being addicted to technology, I am addicted to good Japanese cartoons. About 12 years ago I was first introduced to Dragonball. I don't know how I first stumbled across it, but I grew to love it. I love DB because it was funny and different. There were scenes of the Goku peeing in the background and other goofy things. I didn't care for the peeing specifically, I was interested in the different style of making a cartoon that the Japanese had. You would never find something like a character peeing in an American cartoon. My favorite part thought is the fighting. I am a sucker for a good fight scene. So, naturally I was ecstatic to find out about Dragon Ball Z. This show is all about fighting. So, I watched episodes when ever I could. Well, fast forward to now. My current favorite cartoon is Naruto. I found it on Youtube. I first started to notice it as I was looking through the most watched videos. There would be Naruto clips, but I wouldn't watch them because they weren't in English. One day, I decided to watch a clip and I found it interesting. This was a few months ago. So, two weeks ago I had some free time, so I looked Naruto up and watched the first few episodes. Now I am hooked and I can watch all the episodes I want on-line. I love the internet. Click here to see the first 89 episodes.

Reading a Book

Yes, it is true! I am reading a book. This is the first book I have picked up for over three years. The literature that hits my hands is usually car and computer nerd magazines. The last two weeks was made up of a break I had between spring finals and summer school. I decided to take that time to start a book. Knowing full well that I won't finish it before school started again, my courage took me to venture on the task anyway. Life of Pi is an interesting read so far. More info will follow as I read more.

A New Blog

A buddy of mine has started his own blog. We will call him Brandon G to protect his identity. I have known him since my sophomore year in high school, about twelve years ago. He served in the second best mission in the world and is living in my ward. Or I am living in his ward...whatever. The site is brandonsbrainwaves.blogspot.com or click here to go to the site. If you read his second post, you will see how full of himself he is. I don't think a person can like two things at the same time, but he claims to like over fifteen things. Preposterous!
We will see if he is serious about blogging as time goes by. My bro-in-law lasted all of one post, and my buddy Geoff G lasted two posts. If Brandon G can last up to five posts, I will be very proud of him. He is bigger then me, so I hope he doesn't read this or I am sure he will pummel me.

Summer School (La de freakin dahhh)

Summer school starts next week and I am freakin excited. There is nothing I am more excited about. This last week of no homework has been growling. Why do I have to live any part of my life with out homework? I so looking forward to spend ten weeks of my Summer inside absorbing thrilling info from professors who haven't seen the light of day in years. Oh, what joy shall fill my bosom when I get to gaze into the eyes of wonderful professors for over four hours a day. Why would I give a flaming poop about the beach or a nice round of golf? It is pure crap if you ask me. Give me a good business book and no fun and I am set. This summer will be amazing.

I am not alone!!

Today during Sunday school, I was in the clerk's office at church entering in data for April's hometeaching. While entering the data many people came in and out of the office. The clerks and a member of the bishopric were around talking about different topics. Somewhere in the conversation Will T (Bishop counselor) said, "Guess what will be my next cell phone. The new iPhone!" I immediately looked up and at him and with excitement said, "I don't have all the money yet, but I am getting it too." We gave each other a high five. I am so excited to know of someone else who will get one. I know the phone is all the hype and those who have had the privilege of using one have said it lives up to the hype. I am just worried the price will keep loads of people away and I will be a solitary man with an expensive phone. I just hope the iPhone won't be hard to get. We will see.

Our trip to Petco

My family and I went to a new shopping center on Saturday to see if we could find a new suit for me. The last suit I purchased was back in 1997 before my mission to Canada. The only suit I have left has been with me since 1996. I haven't changed much in the way of size in eleven years. I got my last remaining suit at the late C&R store in San Diego. It was my first suite ever. It still looks good. Well anyway, as I was saying, we went to the new shopping center and visited the new Nordstrom Rack. The suits were nice, but the prices were our of our reach. We dilly dallied for a while and then headed down the shopping center to the Cingular store to look at phones for Jamie. If we are switching over to Cingular for the iPhone then Jamie is going to get a good phone as well. She likes the Treo. On the way to Cingular, we saw Petco and decided to hit it up on the way back. On a side note, Jamie's mom spotted us in the parking lot as we were walking. Random! As we got to Petco, we looked around at all the animals. As we got to the fish section, we noticed some crabs. The first thing I noticed was the fiddler crabs, which are small, and they have strange pincher's. One is gynormous and the other is tiny. Some had the immense claw on the left and other on the right.

Here is some info from wikipedia:

Fiddler crabs live rather brief lives of no more than two years (up to three years in captivity). During courtship, the males wave their over sized claws high in the air and tap them on the ground in an effort to attract females. Fights between other males will also occur, which are presumably meant to impress the females; if a male loses his larger claw, the smaller one will begin to grow larger and the lost claw will regenerate into a new (small) claw. For at least some species of fiddler crabs, however, the small claw remains small, while the larger claw regenerates over a period of several molts, being about half its former size after the first molt.

Fun day.

Golf is in my sights.

I wish I could say this is where I went golfing, yet I heard the dues were a little much and I needed to be part of a special club. Oh well. I went golfing with my father-in-law (Dave) because I could. He and my brother-in-law (Tyler) introduced me to the joys of golf. Dave had been golfing for years and Tyler is current the Superintendent of a course in palm desert. Therefore, Dave and I went to the executive course at Lake San Marcos, which is about five minutes from my home. The course is short and fun. Many of the holes are no longer then 125 yards. We pulled out our drivers for one out of fifteen holes. We started at 6:00 and finished at 8:15. I did better then I thought I would. I have only been golfing about six times and have not touched the grass for over a year. I plan to go about once a month because the game is really fun.

PPP Direct Launches

I have been posting for Pay Per Post for the last month and a half. I can't say my posts are anything to be proud of gramaticly, but I am glad that PPP provides me an easy way to make money on the side while taking up little time. As many of my readers know I am saving up for the iPhone and PPP has helped a lot. You may have noticed the "Review my post" at the bottom of some of my PPP posts. This is a way to get others to sign up for PPP and I get a cut of the action. Now Pay Per Post has another tool to make me money. The program is called Direct Launches. The process is I put a perminent add on my blog inviting people to advertise on my site. I set a price and companies who pick me can advertise on my site. I get about 90% of the money and all are happy. The only problem I have is I seriously doubt that anyone would want to advertise on my site. I should try it though. If you like blogging, you should check out Pay Per Post.

Invites

When I served a mission for the Church of Jesus Christ in Canada, I was taught to invite people to come to Christ by listening to our message and praying about its truthfulness. I loved that we were inviting people because no one want to be forced, nor could I force then. No one is forced into heaven and no one must come to Christ if they don't want to. Now people will pay the consequences if they choose not to come to him, but still, that is the choice of the individual.

With the thought of invitations in mind, I have been wondering how I could apply it to other aspects of my life. One kind of application came to me yesterday when I was home. Jamie said, "I sure hope someone decides to do some service by bringing us some cookies. I really want some." When she said that I replied, "I will call your visiting teacher right now and invite her to do you that service." I called, but no one answered. It occurred to me at that moment of light-heartedness (NO, not light minded) that I could use these invitations more often. For example- Brandon G, I invite you to bring me some cookies next week at church. If he doesn't bring them, then I will assume that he forgot or he didn't except my invitation. No harm, no fowl. I also invite all who read this to give me a dollar next time you see me. I will put it in my iPhone fund. I love invites.

My Blog is really in the hole!

I have been doing some long and hard thinking about my blog today...

My mind has been focusing on post quality and my reasons for writing. The conclusion I have come to may be similar to yours. I have lost sight of why I am writing. I use to enjoy writing, but now all I think about is the money I make from the sponsored posts. I have no feeling about the topics anymore.

In an effort to make things right I am only going to make a max of one sponsored post a day. This effort will weed out the chance of junk posts. I make junk posts -like the last Heroes- post because I need to have a regular post between the sponsored ones. With my new rule, I can put some thought into my posts and still make money. I feel better about myself this way.

IRA Funding

* An IRA can only be funded with cash or cash equivalents. Attempting to transfer any other type of asset into the IRA is a prohibited transaction and disqualifies the fund from its beneficial tax treatment.
* Rollovers, transfers, and conversions between IRAs and other retirement accounts can include any asset.
* The maximum for an IRA contribution in years 2006 and 2007 is 100% of earned income or $4,000, whichever is less, for an individual under the age of 50. Individuals aged 50 and older can contribute up to 100% of earned income or $5,000 whichever is less.
* This limit is for Roth IRAs, traditional IRAs, or some combination of the two. You cannot put more than $4,000 into your Roth and traditional IRA combined ($5000 for individuals aged 50 or more).

For example, if you are 45 and put $3,500 into your traditional IRA this year so far, you can either put $500 more into your traditional IRA or $500 in your Roth IRA. However, because this is still before the filing deadline (April 17, 2007) for calendar year 2006, the cash method taxpayer could get the full $4000 limit for the Roth by simply calling the $3,500 a Roth and not claiming the $3,500 above the line (i.e., reduces AGI) deduction and making the remaining $500 a Roth. There may be an additional administrative step needed so that the trustee which holds the IRA proceeds actually retitles or transfers the $3500 Traditional proceeds into the Roth category for their internal bookkeeping to survive an IRS audit.

Heroes on NBC

The finally last night was ok, but Sylar is still alive. I hate that guy almost to the point of boycotting the show until he is dead and gone. At least let the guy erase his memory, so he is not such a butt head. That would be great. I like the actor because he does a good job, but I hate the fact that he kills others and takes their powers. He only becomes stronger and Peter is not refined enough to stop him. It is all crap...I still like the show though.

How can I kick it with a famous person?

Not many of us will have the chance to meet a celebrity. When I was in the San Diego airport my wife saw Tony Gwynn, so that is the closest I have been to a famous person. There is a celebrity named Mirelly Taylor who was on the show Punk'd and other shows who is the focus of a contest for the average Joe to take her on a date. This is an interesting premiums because not many people get to hang with the famous nor take a famous person on a date for that fact. The job of the average Joe to win this chance is done through a video entrance contest. The videos are just a few minutes long and if you win Ms. Taylor will be your new friend for the night. One of the videos (look below) features a guy stuck in the 90's. It just makes me want to put on my hammer pants and dance the night away. You can see the Free videos at GoFish.com and watch the rest of the entered videos and vote for your favorites. Some are good and some are not. But it is fun to see the creativity of some of these people. Who knows, you might win the date. I won't be submitting a video because I am married and it would be a little weird if I did win. You know what I mean.

Here is one of the contestants videos.

"

What has my blog become?

When I started my blog a year ago, I just used it to write what was in my head and practice writing. I have put out about 75 to 100 posts. I am proud of my writing to my own standards, but it seems my blog has gone down hill since I started to write sponsored posts. Quality control is down the tube and for what. Well it is all for money. I can make over 20 bucks for only a half hour of work on these posts. I have to put a regular post (one like this) in between a sponsored post to qualify. So I just write some little diddy like this so I can make some money. I am such a sell out. Only until I get the iPhone.... I think.

Revenge on the Jetsons

I am coming to understand that the Family Guy is providing me the revenge I have always wanted as a kid. Much like the Trix Rabbit, George had been walked on for a long time. He now get his comeupance.

Roth IRA

Disadvantages

* The main disadvantage of a Roth IRA (when compared to a traditional IRA) is that contributions are not tax-deductible. If one contributes $1000 to a traditional IRA while in a high tax bracket, one can often receive a tax deduction, substantially reducing the initial cost of contributing (or, potentially, allowing someone without much disposable income to shelter more income). This is not the case for the Roth IRA. It should be noted that the money in a traditional IRA is taxed once it is withdrawn at retirement. If one is not able to max out one's IRA contributions, and ends up in a lower income tax bracket at retirement, then one will wind up with less usable cash by choosing a Roth IRA over a Traditional IRA.

* With a Roth IRA, there are heavy penalties for early withdrawals of earnings (withdrawals up to the total of contributions + conversions are tax-free). An unqualified withdrawal of earnings will result in federal income tax plus a ten-percent penalty on the amount. Fortunately there are many exceptions, such as buying a first home and paying qualified educational expenses.

* There is also the risk that Congress over the next few decades may decide to tax earnings on Roth IRAs.

* The perceived tax benefit may never be realized, i.e., one might not live to retirement or much beyond, in which case, the tax structure of a Roth only serves to reduce an estate that may not have been subject to tax. One must live until their Roth IRA contributions have been withdrawn and exhausted to fully realize the tax benefit. Whereas, with a traditional IRA, tax might never be collected at all, i.e., if one dies prior to retirement with an estate below the tax threshold, or goes into retirement with income below the tax threshold.

Roth

Here is some info on a Roth IRA that I think is important for people to know:

* At any time, the Roth IRA owner may withdraw up to the total of his contributions (in nominal dollars).

* If there is money in the Roth IRA due to conversion from a Traditional IRA, the Roth IRA owner may withdraw up to the total of the converted amount, as long as the "seasoning" period has passed on the converted funds (currently, five years).

* Earnings withdrawals become automatically qualified in the tax year the participant reaches age 59.5 or becomes disabled, so long as the account is "seasoned" (established for five or more years).

* Up to $10,000 in earnings withdrawals are considered qualified if the money is used to acquire a principal residence. This house must be acquired by the Roth IRA owner, their spouse, or their lineal ancestors and descendants. The owner or qualified relative who receives the "first time homeowner" distribution must not have owned a home in the previous 24 months.

* If a Roth IRA owner dies, and their spouse becomes the sole beneficiary of their Roth IRA while that spouse also owns a separate Roth IRA, the spouse is permitted to combine the two Roth IRAs into a single account without penalty. Additionally, qualified distributions are also available to other beneficiaries of Roth IRA owners. See IRS Pub 590 for complete details.

* If the Roth IRA owner expects his tax bracket after retirement to be higher than before retirement, there is a tax advantage to making contributions to a Roth IRA over a traditional IRA or similar vehicle. There is no current tax deduction, but money going into the Roth IRA is taxed at the lower current rate, and will not be taxed at the higher future rate when it comes out of the Roth IRA. If a taxpayer is currently in the 15% tax bracket, then a $1,000 contribution to a traditional IRA would provide a $150 reduction in current-year tax liability. If that taxpayer were in the 30% tax bracket upon retirement, $1000 of traditional IRA distributions would incur $300 in taxes. Therefore, the person would pay twice as much for after retirement income as he received in tax benefits from the traditional IRA deduction (and since gains are compounded, this comparison is valid). Therefore, the Roth IRA offers a specific advantage where a person will retire in a higher tax bracket than that used during his or her pre-retirement years.

* Perhaps the greatest advantage of the Roth IRA is its lack of forced distributions based on age. All other tax-deferred retirement plans, including the Roth IRA's cousin, the Roth 401(k),[1] require withdrawals to begin at age 70½ (more precisely, by April 1 of the calendar year after age 70½ is reached), and impose an annual minimum distribution once withdrawals begin at any age beyond 59½. The Roth IRA is completely free of these mandates.

Why I like Pay Per Post

I signed up for Pay Per Post about four months ago. I had to wait about a month after signing up for my blog to be fully excepted because I didn't qualify at the time. Since the day I have qualified I have loved the idea of making money on-line. I have made just under $100 bucks passively posting for PPP. I have been finishing up this semester the last few weeks, so I focused my time on school. Now that I am off for two weeks I plan to post as many PPP as I can because I am saving up for an iPhone. Pay Per Post uses viral marketing as a tool to help web sights get noticed and helps me get money in a simple way and at my leisure. Good stuff.

The Trix Rabbit Finally Gets the Goods.

As a kid I hated the Trix commercials. The Trix Rabbit seemed like a good rabbit, and these kids kept on taking his cereal. Even though it was kids just like me that were getting the Trix, I still thought it was stupid that the Rabbit who was on the freakin box couldn't have his own goods. I was so happy when I saw the Asian rabbit stand up for himself. Not only did he get the cereal, but he also got revenge for the American rabbit. This it the greatest day.

Weird Secretary

At work we have the strangest secretary. She is strange because she turns the most normal word into some odd mixture of letters and sounds. For example- a co-worker was taking her daughter to the dentist and wrote it on the office calender which hangs on the wall for all to see. I thought it would be funny to change dentist appointment to lobotomy. The next day I overheard the secretary reading it on the calender. Instead of saying it right, she said (lo bo tommy). I just put my head down on my desk and laughed for a while along with the girl behind me. We were in the other room, so we weren't caught.

Things I Remember

Two days ago I was getting some lunch for my daughter. I think I was making a sandwich for her and I saw the tortillas. All the sudden a memory came back to me about what I use to put on tortillas as a kid. I haven't thought of this for about ten years, so I don't even know what brought the thought to me. When I was a kid, I was a picky eater. So some foods would be my staples. One of them was to put butter on a tortilla, roll it up , and eat it with just butter. I remember it tasting good at the time, but now it sounds gross. I think I will make one today just for old times sake.

Things I Remember

For years I have wanted to start a journal. Along with that journal, I wanted to write down past memories that should have been written down. I am going to start my journal right here. My first entry is "How I started and stopped cussing."

When I was a kid (between 8-13) I would use the @$$hole word when ever someone make me really mad. I can only remember about three times in those early years screaming that. Well, I truly started cussing about my freshmen year in high school. I had a good friend ,who went to church with me, that started to drop a few words here and there. I was shocked at first to hear him say such things, but then it became common place and others in my group of friends started as well. I felt out of place because I had restrained from participating in the practice of using the f-bomb as a noun, adverb, verb, pronoun, or adjective.

If I was to join them, I would start slowly with the @$$ word. I remember the night I finally joined the ranks of my friends. I was at the Mann theater in Rancho Bernardo with my friend Steve, a girl named Beth (the cow), and I think Derek. I decided that my entry into the cussing club would be the word "Horse's @$$." I loved the way it sounded. I looked for the right opportunity to say it. My heart was saying, "Don't say that word, you don't cuss." While my mind wanted to conform to the whims of friends. With much fear and reluctance, I finally made up a sentence to say so I could take the dive. When I finally said my sentence, which was said with such reluctance, I felt like a different person. A feeling of -stucking it to the man- came over me. I don't think any one notice I had said anything, but to me and me alone I had just stepped into the world of bad-@$$es.

I now thought I was cool. From that point to the end of my junior year, I would drop it down with the best of them. My second favorite phrase was, "I don't gave a flying f$#%," yet to this day my favorite is, "It smells like @$$ in here." That one cracks me up. I would have my friends say it just to make me laugh. Also, one of my current favorites is when the B-word is added to the end of a sentence like, "Its dodge ball time...B#&$h."

About January of 1996 I got a call from my sister who was attending Berkeley. She asked me if I wanted to live with here for the summer and help pay for rent. She is only two years older then me, so it wasn't going to be a cushy trip. I was going to have to take care of myself. Before I moved out there, I had a moving spiritual experience at youth conference which made me evaluate myself and my standing with God. For the first time I started to put some real effort into cleaning up my language. I have to admit it was hard.

For months before my trip, I was cutting back, but I still drop the bad words around. The thing that really got me to stop was my sister. Not because of any specific thing she did, but because of whom she was to me. I had a lot of respect for her. The last thing I wanted to do was to lose her respect because of the way I spoke. So once I move up to Berkeley I stopped using bad words. I didn't have the pressure of thinking I needed to cuss because my friends were not around. I also had the fear of losing my sister's respect. I lived there from early June to a few weeks into August. I came home with chopped off hair (I had long hair when I moved up) and a clean mouth. I attribute my recovery from bad-@$$ land to my sister. I doubt she even knows.

Heroes on NBC

My favorite show is back on TV and I am so stoked. Heroes is such a good show. The thing I love is that the show isn't bombarded with special effects with people who use their powers and nothing else. The show's backbone is the character development. It kind of has the Spider-man effect; people love Spider-man because he is a blundering idiot with special abilities. People can relate to him as a person and want to be him as a hero. Heroes has people who are like you and me, but we want their powers. There are only about two actors who can't act very well, yet as a whole, the show is packed with twists and turns. You can watch the last five episodes online if you missed any of them. Or you can get them on Itunes.

Bush loves the Yankees?

I saw this picture on Fox News and thought it was to good to pass up. I have never heard of Derek Jeter. When I told this to the girls at my work they were shocked. I guess he is well known. Well anyway, this card went into print before Topps realised that one of their employee added Micky Mantle and Pres. Bush in the picture. I would love to get my hands on one of these babies.

Our trip to the deseret donation trailer

We went over to the Stake Center to drop off our donation clothing and supplies. When we got there we noticed a large amount of cars on the street and in the parking lot. As we got closer we saw the fire station next door was having an open house. We had nothing else to do so we joined the party. About a half hour after we got there the demolition squad did a demo of how they get people out of cars after a crash. Here are some pictures. They are taken with my phone so quality went straight down the toilet.

The poor car before the demo.

This is after they sawed off one door and jaws-of-life'ed the other door. Once they had both doors off, they cut the pillars and bent the roof back. This is done in cases where they need to lift the person up.

This device is used if they need to push the dash away from people inside.

Where can I get a car like this?

How do you plan to pay for this iPhone?

About two years ago my wife and I got a digital video camera. We wanted to document our family in film. Since we had just welcomed our first child into our family months before, we thought it fitting to get a camera. I am the type of person that once I start a desire for an electronic device, I obsess over obtaining said device until it is mine. I got the camera bug, and I needed that camera or my life was over. After some research, Jamie and I decided to get a Cannon (ZR2 I believe). We were and still are happy with our purchase. One of the benefits of having a digital video camera is the option of uploading the data right to your computer and editing it on the spot. The problem was we didn't own a computer that was strong enough to handle such uploads and we had no DVD burner. We were in need of a new computer.

Now the computer bug was in me and it gnawed at me more then the camera one did. I ate, slept, and dressed in the idea of getting a new computer. At the time, we had a custom built computer with left over parts from a computer nerd I knew. It had an AMD Anthem 1200MH processor with about 384 RAM. It was suitable for our needs before the camera came along.

I started to look around for computer options. I try to use every option I can think of to get a good computer at a good price. We considered shopping: online, in store, or look for someone we could get an employee discount from. A engineering friend, who worked for Northrop Grummet (who also was a computer nerd), had connections with HP. We used that connection and got hooked up with a sweet computer.

Now it all sounds fine and dandy getting a new computer and stuff, well it is and it isn't. It is fine because we got the computer, yet it is not fine because through the whole process of research and waiting for the computer, I couldn't get the dang thing off my mind. Who wants to live their life thinking about one thing? Now, if it was something we needed for survival then that is understandable, but if it is more wanted than needed, then that is when sanity needs to be questioned. I sure drove my wife crazy, and I drove myself a little crazy too. I was annoyed with myself because I couldn't control my own thoughts. We finally got the computer after I got a bonus at work for all the awesome work I did (everyone else got a bonus too, but most of the money came from our Hawaii vacation fund...$800). We decided not to go for some reason. The computer was great and still is, yet I still feel bad about the obsession that drove me.

Now it is two years later and another obsession has hit me. The stupid cell phone bug. Cell phones are more then phones; they are handheld computers. I love that! A few months ago I wrote a post about my thought on how cell phones have changed society. I first wanted to get a Helio Drift because of its internet abilities and GPS system. I had the tech bug bad with this one. Our current contract with Verizon is over in late May and I just couldn't wait till then to have the Drift. Sometime in late February I finally broke down and went against my better judgment and my wife's, and purchased a Drift. I justify my actions to myself because the bug told me to.

After an hour of laying in bed still thinking about whether I should or should not have purchased the phone, my better half of me stepped in and said, "If you can't sleep over the purchase of a stupid cell phone, you shouldn't have bought it in the first place." I decided on that spot that I was going to cancel my order in the morning. And I did. I was amazed at the relief I felt after cancelling the order. I no longer thought about the phone. I still think the phone is cool, but I'm not obsessed with it anymore.

Now looking back I can say I have more empathy for those who have an addiction of any sort. I in the most minimal way was addicted to something that was frivolous, yet at the time it was all I could think about. I think some of the addiction was driven by a desire to have something I can't and shouldn't get. It was like being at Candy Mountain with my hand and feet tied. I could see and smell all the candy, but I could not partake.

My obsession was gone and I had all this money left over... let me back up for a second. In order to fund my obsession for the Drift, I thought it would be unfair to my family to use our regular income to fund a second cell phone bill. In early February I decided to work for my brother, Geoff, who owns event ticket sites. You can find links to these sites on the right side of my blog in the link section. I run the Las Vegas and Seattle sites, and Jamie runs the San Diego and Los Angeles sites. These sites are made to help people find after market tickets to events and concerts. I get a certain dollar amount for each post I write and I allocate that money for my personal use. Jamie and I are under the agreement that our hourly jobs are for bills and expenses. Our web money can be spent on whatever our hearts desire.

Like I said at the beginning of the last paragraph, I had money left over that I didn't spend on the Drift. I still wanted a cool phone and I had ruled out getting the Drift because Helio didn't have any family plans and I didn't want to think about it anymore. Then it dawned on me! I could get the iPhone. Yes! I could get the iPhone. It is perfect on so many levels, and I will tell you why.

It isn't out yet.

1. I can't obsess about it and break down because it isn't out for me to buy even if I did break down.
2. The phone will fulfill all my wants and easily fill my needs.
3. I can save up to get it.
4. There are family plans.

I have been saving up for the last two months for the June release date and I feel good about myself. I mainly feel good because I am able to save and work for the phone I want. I feel like I cheat myself when I go with every whim and buy thing on credit. Instant gratification is a problem and I don't want to be involved with it.

Do you know this abused child? Part Two

This poor child is the victim of what is called, "I am going to get you!"
She will heal from the physical wounds, but she may never recover from the emotional scars of slamning her face into a door frame.

If you know someone who is being abused by a, "I am going to get you," now is the time to act. Call your local law enforcer right away.

You can make a difference.

Need a Chair?

We bought this chair a few years ago at Ikea. We were going to throw it out, but thought to post it up in case someone wants it.

PPP

PPP stands for Pay Per Post. I have recently signed up for a pay per post advertisement program. I write a short piece on one of the many opportunities provided by the site, and I get paid if the post meets the requirements. You will be able to tell the difference between my personal posts and the PPP posts by looking at the label at the bottom of each post. I will put a PPP next to all the advertising posts. These posts will be showing up for a few months so I can earn money for some thing I will talk about later in another post. I have written it, but I need to refine it.

Easter Dinner

I have been married going on five years this August. When our first Easter rolled around I found out something shocking. My wife doesn't like ham. How could you not like ham? None the less, there would be no point in haveing ham if half the family doesn't like it. So we were in need of a replacement for our Easter feast. I don't know who came up with the idea, but I do know it was unanimously agreed on. We decided to have carne asada burritos and that has been our meal every year.

The first year was delicious. The second was as well besides Jamie not able to eat any of the food because she was pregnant. Last year we had my parents and Jamie's mom over for the delicious meal. But, I do not remember hearing much of a rave over Jamie's meal like I hoped I would. They weren't invited back this year.

The meal may look simple, yet it is so good.

General Conference and the Weirdos that Follow

General Conference is a time of joy for the members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The conference is held twice a year. The speakers are a collection of Apostles and Prophets who are inspired by God to teach his word. It is also a time for the weirdos to come out and protest in the most bizarre way. The following pictures will explain.

Click on the picture above and you will see a larger view of the sign. The poster is creative, but it has been used for many years and there are to many acronyms in hell for my liking.

LDS stands for Latter-day Saint. In this cleaver piece, it is changed to Liars, Deceivers, and Seducers.

I am not sure which side I should go on... Should I love Mormons or should I stay away from the seven books from Hell. Life is full of tough choices.

This one is fun. If you read it cross ways you get some great sentences. Kind of like Mad-libs. For example- So called women, Christian Liberals, Freaks mockers, Drunks addicts...

UUUUUHHHHHHHHH... ok, so what is your point? I heard all that stuff in the conference from people who weren't yelling.

We have your Mormon Lies for only 29.95 right here for a limited time. Get them while they are hot.

Now this is a good guy.

HO HO HO, Merry Conference! Sinners!

Do you know this abused child?

Did you know:

1. One in every 15 children are given wedgies every day.
2. One in every 10 children is farted on every day by a friend or sibling
3. One in every 7 children is forced to wear a diaper on their head.

Don't let this happen to you or someone you love. Just say No!

So what does that make me?

Have you ever been at a state of your life where most everyone you grew up with has progressed in life and you seem to be in the same place? I have and that was tonight. Old friends and roommates I haven't seen for years got together at Stir Fresh in Rancho Bernardo to celebrate a birthday. I have always felt a little weird around these guys because they were all good friends before I moved in with them, and they all surfed which was something I never did. I was accepted by these guys and they always treated me well, yet I often felt like the fifth wheel when we were all together. I just didn't have much in common with them.

So now that life has happened and we are five years older, things between us are different. We have all married and each of us has one to two children. I was a little apprehensive of going to the gathering because I was afraid the old feelings of being the fifth wheel would resurface. It didn't and I had a good time. The thing that made all the difference for me is we all have something in common now; we all have families. I even hope to see them in the near future.

There is just one problem... I am still in school and they are done. One friend is currently working on a Masters. Now I only have a year to go which is exciting in of it's self, but it is hard not to feel small and insignificant around these guys. A few years ago we were all in the same boat and were all paddling for the same goal. Now they have moved on to speed boats and yachts and I am still in the row boat.

Feeling small is the story of my life, yet that is my problem to overcome because no one is making me feel small except myself.

I want to emphasize that these guys are the most trustworthy and kind people one could hope to know. I don't want anyone to come away from reading this thinking I had any ill feelings for these guys. I just feel academically small around them.

PPI, or should it be iPP

I was chatting with my buddy Brandon G during Priesthood, and he said to me "PPI sounded funny". He went on to say that a PPI sounds like a pirate proclaiming his need to take a wizz. "RRRRRRrrr, I be taking a PPI". A PPI is an acronym for personal priesthood interview.

Brandon's comment was funny and it made me think. If PPI sounds like a pirate speaking potty, then how could we switch things up to make it sound cooler? How about we put an "i" in front of the PP instead of the end of it and leave it lower case. This change would make it look like it was made by Apple, INC. Anything made by Apple is cool in today's society. Now lets put the change to the test," we are having iPP's after church." I like it; however, I anticipate there will be some backlash to this change because saying iPP sounds like I am saying," I pee pee...". The way to compensate for this potential problem is to make up a logo for iPP to look all graffiti like. That would make it more hip and cool creating the illusion that it is ok to say iPP. This is similar to it being ok to say ass in church if you are reading the scriptures. Once there is common concensus, it is ok.

I am a friggin genius. I could make millions selling this idea all over the church. Maybe I could sell it to Apple... Yeah!

Elder's Quorum Presidency Meetings -The Best in the World

Those who have been involved in any leadership position in the LDS church will know what I mean when I say the meetings can be boring. They often take place at the church building in small rooms filled with men odor. Some of the guys in my meetings can be real ripe because of their large stature (i.e. fat). The amount of people attending depends on the organization. If it was the ward mission meeting then the only ones in attendance would be the mission leader and the full-time missionaries. There might be one or two ward missionaries out of ten attending also. I was a ward missionary for five years in three different wards, so I can say this stuff with experience.

I am currently a secretary in the elder's quorum and I love the meetings we are now having. I want to emphasise the word "now" because the ward meets at 1:00 pm and this provides great opportunities. I will explain; last year we had church from 11:00 to 2:00. The president would have PEC before church and we would have presidency meeting after church. Our presidency meeting would be right at the time we were most tired and hungry. The spirit would be at the meetings, but in the back of every one's mind would be the hope that the meeting would be over soon. It also didn't help that many of us had a wife and children waiting usually out in the hallway.

So like I said we now have church at 1:00, getting us out at 4:00 which makes it harder to have a meeting after church because by the time we would get home dinner would be eaten, and the wife would be mad because we were at a meeting so late. Now our meeting are in the morning to avoid the after church problems.

When I learned that we were going to have morning meetings instead of afternoon meetings and that they were going to be at a presidency member's house, I got way excited. The first thought I had was "We could have brunch at whoever's house we were at." I am the type of person who has no problem saying what I think I mentioned it at the next meeting and the one after that. I didn't really think the other guys were going to start a brunch tradition, yet I hoped they would. I thought the best way to start having food at the meetings was to be the first one to provide food by having the meeting at my place. Apparently I didn't need to do that because when we had our meeting at Matt B's house his wife made great muffins. The next week we had a manly breakfast made of chopped up potatoes with eggs on top cooked in a dutch oven. And last week we had a dope Angel food cake with some sugary goo on top.

I am a sinner for saying this, but I am sad it is fast Sunday this week. I guess all good things must stop for a greater good. We will just skip the food thing for a week, no biggy.

Pres. sent this e-mail to all in the presidency today:

Guys,
Due to probable changes that may occur with the assistant secretaries, we will just meet as usual this Sunday over at Matt C's place at 9:30 am. It is fast Sunday so don't everybody get their hopes up for a nice snack (sob sob). See you then.

I can't wait for next week.

SBC and Cingular become the New AT&T

As a business student, I am interested in how companies rise and fall. Before I saw this video I had a mental picture of how "MA BELL" was divided up and slowly over twenty or so years has come back together. Steve in this video explains the process very well.

Heroes on NBC

Heroes is Rad! I love this show. I love to see the heroes use their powers and I love to meet new characters. Heroes is like a wonderfully drawn out beginning of Spider-man one. Watching Peter Parker discover his powers and master them was cool. I maybe over stating my like for this show... oh well. I decided to use my blog as my outlet for analyzing and piecing the puzzle together of what will happen next.

My thoughts are directed towards Peter and Sylar today.


Peter- He is the little brother of Nathan who is running for a political office in New York. He first discovers his powers by dreams portraying him flying. He eventually finds out that he can fly, but only when his brother who is the real flier is around. Long story short, Peter's power is the ability to mimic the powers of those around him. When he is around the invisible guy he is invisible, get it?
OK, so I first thought that Peter's power was only sustained when the other heroes were around, but I was wrong. An invisible guy (Peter also dreamed about) later teams up with Peter and starts to train him. He tells Peter that his ability not only mimics the powers of others when they are near by, but he also absorbs them permanently. He just needs to learn how to use the new powers without them controlling him. There was one scene where a couple of the powers came out at once and he went all weird. The inviso-man knocked Peter out to get him under control.

Not only is Peter's power cool, but it makes him extremely powerful. I am interested in seeing how much Peter can do. I made a list of all the powers I think he currently has.

List- Absorb powers (obvious), fly, regenerate body, telekinetic, understand how things work (Sylar), read minds, invisibility, control time, paint the future, persuade people (I think he met Eden before she died), and if he absorbed all of Sylar's power he can also take bullets and remember everything. If Peter learns how to control these things, he will be off the charts of coolness.

This jackass is Sylar. Man, I hate this guy. Not because he is a bad actor, I hate it when really evil guys go unchecked. He must be doing his job because we are not supposed to like him. Currently he is the most powerful guy in the show because Peter is only learning how to use his powers. This guy goes around stealing other powers by taking off their brain-caps. His power is the ability to understand how things work by just looking at them. So he takes off the brain cap of a hero and looks at their brain leaving them dead. His is a power hungry retard wanting all the powers he can get his hands on. I won't talk about his other powers because I touched on them earlier and he will be dead by the end of the season.

My prediction- Earlier in the show Hiro (the Japanese time controller) came to Peter from the future. Hiro told Peter that he didn't recognize him without his scar (Peter can regenerate so something big must happen later to give him a scar). He also told Peter, "Save the cheerleader, save the world." I am not sure if that means that the cheerleader will save the world or if Peter is to first save the cheerleader and then save the world. I am pretty sure it is the latter. So if the latter is true here is what will happen. Peter was to first save the cheerleader, which he did. Now he can regenerate (thanks to the cheerleader). At the end of the season he will be having a battle royal with Sylar. These two guys will tear and thrash at each other till one or the other is dead. I bet Sylar kills Peter and he will proceed to take off his head. Peter will regenerate back to life, to the surprise of Sylar, and kick the crap out of the hated one. A scar will be on Peter's head due to the beginning process of his head being taken off. If I am wrong about Sylar giving Peter the scar, then my only other thought is the nuke stuff will give him the scar. I really think the nuke stuff is a red herring to the Sylar vs. Peter melee.

That is what I think. Tell me what you think.

Crazy Asian

Asians are funny

Wii club

This picture is courtesy of Ryan Braman who is an artist for Midway. (Click his name to see more of his work)

A few months ago my wife left me all alone to join her book club that had been meeting for a few months. Shortly after she left something inside me snapped. I wrote about this incident back in October if you want to review it. The result of my break down was the establishment of a video game night the later morphed into Wii night.

The Nintendo Wii came out in November just in time for the Christmas season. I had a few friends looking forward to getting one of these systems but ran into trouble. The lines were long and some people waited over night to get the first ones.

Click here to learn more about the system.

Since the time our game night had become Wii night, we have met two times. The first Wii night was about a month ago. We had a great time playing the free demo games that come with the system. Games like tennis, baseball, golf, and boxing. There was about 5-6 of us playing that night. Last Friday during our second Wii night the only ones in attendance were Ryan B and I. All the others had lame excuses. "I can't come because I got teen-pregnant," or "I have dysentery." You know what guys and hopefully girls (wives of the guys), whatever!! With you not there gives me more Wii time.

I hope the next Wii night has more people.

That means you:
Matt C
Mike W
Geoff G
CJ F
Danny P
Benny P

And bring other with you.