Archive for April, 2008
Disgusting and Wrong
Posted by smokingpen in Odds-n-Ends on April 30, 2008
Well, it’s not uncommon for me to read news. So, today, here’s what I discovered.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080430/ap_on_re_us/polygamist_retreat;_ylt=AkRr5kYpSK4c_feFYUK75C5vzwcF
Essentially, the basis for the removal of children at the FLDS compound was abuse of young and teenage girls. Though not public and possibly not conclusive, sexual and physical abuse has taken place on boys and girls, while the majority of teenage girls are pregnant – even though the FLDS spokesman keeps calling “Liar” and claiming some are actually adults. Regardless, these girls were pregnant before, the boys were not excepted from abuse, and the outcome is not religious persecution.
A man in New Mexico claims he’s the returned Lord Jesus Christ AND he’s admitted to having sexual relations with underage followers. Three children (two girls and a boy) with a fourth agreeing to speak to authorities have been removed from his compound.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080430/ap_on_re_us/fugitive_arrested;_ylt=AkiEdvGqS5_R8czl.lI7z5tvzwcF
A mom of three, 34 years later, has been caught and put in jail. Her husband of 23 years tells the press that this is tearing his family apart even though the woman walked out of a correctional facility at the age of 19 after serving less than one year of a 10 to 20 year sentence. She is currently being held in San Diego waiting for extradition to Michigan.
John Hattaway | smokingpen | Alicia Grey | Clockwork Princess | Cassandra West
Real Heroes Fly
Updated IOTW — book review — T.A. Pratt’s Poison Sleep
Posted by smokingpen in On Writing on April 30, 2008
I went and did it again… I updated IOTW with a new book review. Read T.A. Pratt’s latest, Poison Sleep, and … well, go and look.
John Hattaway | smokingpen | Alicia Grey | Clockwork Princess | Cassandra West
Real Heroes Fly
First Day of Classes – Spring Term
Posted by smokingpen in Odds-n-Ends on April 30, 2008
Well, today was my first day of classes for Spring Term. Technically, yesterday was the FIRST day of classes, but I slept through yesterday so that makes today my first day of classes. Today was the start of Doctrine and Covenants and Deductive Logic where we learned (in 25 minutes or less) what an argument really is. This was illustrated by a Monty Python sketch where John Cleese and one of the other Pythons (no one could remember which one) were having a five minute argument. The not-John Cleese character stated, essentially, an argument is a conclusion supported by assertions. This was funny. We laughed. The professor (who is defending his thesis this summer – I think) shared some additional examples of arguments and not-arguments and then class was done.
Truth told, writing that (and I write very quickly) took longer than the class period did, today.
However, we will get to do readings and assignments and practices and in the end, we will get to turn much of that in and get graded on it. The one thing I found interesting about the Logic class was how the professor decided to approach the first day: “How many of you are here preparing to take the LSAT?” Most of the class raised their hands and he followed that up with, “How many are going to take the LSAT soon?” Fewer hands this time, but still… the majority of students were there in preparation for the LSAT, which, interestingly enough, does not negate them also being there as Philosophy majors.
Erin has told me, in the past, that a large percentage of Philosophy majors intend to go into law. That disturbs me for some reason; and yet, I still want to take the Logic classes (did before the waving of second language requirement) and look forward to this exercise is Deductive and then Predicate Logics.
Actually, along those lines, we decided that I should take Predicate Logic in the summer rather than in the fall. The reason: scheduling. Since we will be having a child in the early part of the semester and since Erin is also trying to work on her Master’s degree at Westminster College in Salt Lake City, having the time (in the late afternoon early evening) where I am not in class clears up some of what Erin needs so she can travel to school and I can take over baby responsibilities.
What I think I would like to accomplish is finding a non-BYU writing job that will let me work mornings before school (currently set aside for Erin to work after baby) that will also allow us the latitude to do the things we’d like to do. Truth told, this is the final stretch, I have a handful (actually a little more) of classes and then I am done with BYU. This is both bittersweet and happy all at the same time. I don’t plan to walk, nor do I plan to arrange my life to walk, the school can mail me my diploma, and in the end, I will move on to the next steps and next stages as soon as I can when I am done. I am just saying, I would like to have something set up for work before the end of the year so I can transition, quickly, into the new job.
Regardless, I believe that things will be okay, we will get to move into the new courses of action and life will be wonderful. Along the way there will be hurdles and hardships. Having a child is only going to add to the need to coordinate and the stress associated with providing for a family. But, outside of all the negative things that one can associate with a new baby (e.g. cost and time) I understand that the unquantifiable benefits far outweigh the negatives and make for a good life.
And, it also influences me to want to find stable, good paying, employment for the long term. Crazy! I know.
John Hattaway | smokingpen | Alicia Grey | Clockwork Princess | Cassandra West
Real Heroes Fly
Hatch Art
Posted by smokingpen in Odds-n-Ends on April 29, 2008
Okay, I would take a picture of the hatch I put into the ceiling of the bathroom, but don’t really enjoy taking pictures and posting them on this website. Doesn’t mean that Erin won’t, I don’t’ know if she will or not, but… you know, that’s up to her whether or not she wants to show the world what I did. And yes, this is a lot like refrigerator art.
Anyway, the process and day was a bit interesting. You can read yesterday’s entry about that. However, going to bed was a relief, and getting up this morning proved to be impossible. I didn’t feel well, my body hurt in odd places, and all I could do was think about was going back to sleep. I do recall my phone beeping intermittently… possibly as a result of reminders that the Spring Term was starting today AND as a result of messages being sent to the phone. The one that caught my eye, AT&T received the paperwork for the rebate on my phone and will now spend eight weeks processing it. Experience does not bode well for this process… at least, however, they decided to let me know they got the paperwork. This would be refrigerator art for Erin if we took pictures of her putting that together.
One problem, and its not necessarily a problem, is that the bathroom is now seriously bright. I put in a new exhaust fan with light and some new light bulbs and… well… I don’t think the blind would necessarily be blind in there now.
Was admiring the outcome this morning. Even some of the spackling I did to hide some of the damage to the ceiling I caused… well, was a result of fixing the hole, and it’s actually turned out pretty well. Still need to do some things, and Erin is talking about painting in there now with bathroom appropriate paint; but for the most part, I think it look good. Of course, the hatch is set a little to the side, which is not happiness, especially as I made sure the hatch door was the same width as the framing in the ceiling… but it is also ignorable.
John Hattaway | smokingpen | Alicia Grey | Clockwork Princess | Cassandra West
Real Heroes Fly
The Hole in the Ceiling
Posted by smokingpen in Odds-n-Ends on April 28, 2008
So, when Erin moved into our apartment a bit over a year ago we discovered that there was a water leak from the upstairs and, in order to prevent mold and other things, I tried (at first) opening the panel in the ceiling and then ended up putting my fist through it and breaking it out. The outcome is that there has been a hole in the ceiling for some time now with Erin tacking up a pillow case (that is now in the garbage) to hide the hole.
Realizing that I had a day in between the end of one semester and the beginning of the Spring Term, Erin (strongly) suggested that I fix the two things (in the bathroom) that needed fixing. First, the hole in the ceiling that had (though not recognized) celebrated its first birthday. And second, the exhaust fan that died on us several months ago (in part due to Erin running it non-stop twenty-four seven).
So, first thing this morning, I woke up and moved cars around so Erin could go to work and then, after she left, took down the old and rotting pieces of the hole in the ceiling. This included taking out some of the drywall around the hole and then cleaning up that mess (in case Erin or her brother decided to come home while I was out).
At that point, I drove to Herriman to borrow some tools from Jared. Mostly power tools to expedite the cutting and reconstruction of the hole. On the way home I stopped at The Home Depot and purchased some of the things I needed to fix the hole and replace the fan. Fortunately, before leaving this morning I took measurements so I’d know what sizes of what I needed, wood, lengths, and the dimensions of the exhaust fan.
When I got home (with a knife I could cut more of the drywall with) I finished cutting out the excess drywall and measured up the hole with one of the two 21 inch wide pieces of wood to make sure it would fit inside. Once that was established I cut out the middle layer of wood and then trimmed and cut the center out of it so that (all said and done) there would be an access to the pipes (the reason for hole to begin with) and then stuck it up into the hole to build out the framing of the hole.
The next step was to put the pieces of the middle section into place. Three pieces with a total of four forty-five degree angle cuts. They were glued and nailed into place. This was followed by the top panel (on hinges and with a latch)… all of which was painted (primed really) white.
After I painted my hands and the wood white I started the process of installing the new exhaust fan-slash-light. This proved to be … interesting as the wiring was odd. I kept installing and uninstalling and installing and uninstalling the exhaust fan trying to get it to work when it was in place. This was frustrating and time consuming and allowed the paint to dry sufficiently so that I could put the panel to finished the ceiling portion of the labor.
Once that was in I returned my attention to the exhaust fan, got it working, and in. That was a relief. As soon as I had electric light that did not consist of my biting the end of a flashlight, I started spackling the wall around the new portal to the pipes… this was the point Erin got home.
All in all, not exactly what I wanted to be doing. Truth told, construction is not my thing. Don’t enjoy it. And yet, much cheaper than paying someone to do it for us. Granted, this all comes out of rent, we don’t own the house, and I do things around the place, in part, because we feel this is a really great deal on rent and utilities and such. The outcome, I do the work, Erin feels better, the landlords don’t have to pay someone a ton-o-money, and I don’t have to deal with people I don’t know coming into my pad (our pad).
Anyway, I got to spend my day fixing things I haven’t gotten around to for some time. Tomorrow I get to go back to classes. This will be interesting. Good times.
John Hattaway | smokingpen | Alicia Grey | Clockwork Princess | Cassandra West
Real Heroes Fly
Updated IOTW — continuation of last week
Posted by smokingpen in On Writing on April 26, 2008
I updated IOTW this morning with a continuation of last weeks theme. Will need to go over and make sure both link to each other.
Go. Read. Enjoy.
John Hattaway | smokingpen | Alicia Grey | Clockwork Princess | Cassandra West
Real Heroes Fly
Final Words
Posted by smokingpen in Odds-n-Ends on April 25, 2008
Well, James graduated yesterday and today. My parents got Erin a Graduate Program that lists her name. I left it in her car on my way to work. I hope she is excited. The parents, though, were in town for a couple of days for James‘s graduation and headed home today.
This week has been interesting. For starters, Erin‘s brother moved (temporarily) into our second bedroom-slash-office. That was fun. We weren’t really using it and had started a bunch of discussions on how to make the space more baby friendly to be used as a nursery for when little camper comes along and now we have a camper staying there until the end of the month.
School starts up, again, for me on Tuesday. I have, as yet, not bothered to go out and purchase the book(s) for the classes I am taking. This is not a good thing; it is, however, not necessary as yet. Erin might actually have the book I need for the class and need to compare what is needed to what she has. Though, truth told, with my luck the book will be very different that what she used for the same class.
I will probably buy a Triple Combination that matches the New Testament I used for my Honors New Testament class. It can sit, all it wants, on the school books shelf with the other school related books that I have been using and keeping.
Truth told, this term I am hoping is better than the last semester. I have to say, the preceding semester was really difficult for me. Not difficult in the sense that any of the classes was overly difficult, but rather in the sense that they didn’t seem to fit in well, the way tests were proctored was … somehow wrong, and in the end I don’t really feel as though I got a lot out of the semester.
Granted, I did enjoy (for the most part) the History of the English Language class I took. The professor was very good at his subject matter; though, his attention span was interesting. We used a couple of books that I found entertaining to read and with a depth that seemed appropriate to the subject material – even though the professor described the book(s) as rather dry and dense.
On the flipside, I am excited to be taking the two logic classes I am scheduled for in Spring term and Fall semester. In truth, looking at theoretical changes in science have come from observation and appropriate application of logic. Whether or not I ever use this, I am interested and excited to have it as a part of my life.
John Hattaway | smokingpen | Alicia Grey | Clockwork Princess | Cassandra West
Real Heroes Fly