Archive for the ‘machinery’ Category

Reader rider

Wednesday, February 10th, 2010


Here’s LRN1 going for a ride at LRN2’s Eagle project. In honor of both Loyal Readers and their recent significant events. Part of my famous Machinery series.

Greetings from the train again. Just finished my daily 100 names of indexing. Sadly, I’m pretty sure I’ll never catch up with LRN4. She spent hours at the Family History Center again this week (she’s substituting for somebody for a few weeks) and pretty much only indexed. She’s been doing it on and off for quite a long time and told me today she’s done six or seven thousand total names. Pretty impressive, no?

Anyway. We’re going through Tracy now, so I have maybe twenty minutes before we pull in to Lardville. Plus, the laptop’s battery is down to about 23% and sinking fast. So I’ll make this relatively quick.

LRN1 entered the MTC today! I’m tremendously excited to hear from him the first time, see how the first day went, and get his address. I’m planning to make frequent use of his address and encourage my Loyal Readers to do the same. I’ll post his new addresses here as he gets them. Maybe even in the sidebar. What do you think of that idea, Loyal Readers? Hello? Anybody?

Later – His address is here! Behold:
Andrew David Morrow
MTC Mailbox # 180
GUA-GUAN 0413
2005 N 900 E
Provo, UT 84604-1793

I’m going to Dear Elder as soon as this is done. You?

Otherwise, the day’s been pretty normal. Got up (10 minutes late – drat that snooze button!), got ready, made it to the train station on time (barely – drat that snooze button!), commuted, worked, ate, worked, went to numerous meetings, and commuted. The evening will consist of eating, exercising at the gym (first time this week – drat those meetings!), cleaning up, and sleeping. There are lots of things on my plate at home right now – I need to put the rest of LRN1’s stuff into boxes, move the computers from the server/game/exercise room into LRN1’s room (hereafter know as “my office”), finish fixing the laptop LRN6 asked me to work on (if possible – no joy so far), open my new electronic pedometer for use at the gym and figure out how to work it, read a bunch of information for my Young Men and Scouting calling, put a bunch of other stuff away, get my car washed, etc. – but none of it will get any attention until the weekend. With the possible exception of the pedometer. I can’t resist new electronics.

Anyway. I’m down to 16% battery life and maybe ten minutes, so I’ll quit here and leave you with this shocking food violence news: armed coffee robbery!

See you tomorrow.

Dodge brothers

Tuesday, February 9th, 2010


Here’s an early Dodge emblem. The Star of David is kind of interesting. I don’t think it had any meaning – they probably just liked it. Great Art taken at the Sacramento auto museum on Christmas Eve, of course. Part of my famous Machinery series.

Greetings from the train! I’m using my laptop, having finished my daily 100 names of indexing and tried to simultaneously stay awake with limited success. I think it got done well, though – I guess I can index in my sleep already. Pretty impressive.

Anyway, I’m using the train’s wifi and my laptop’s battery. The wifi signal is pretty good right now, although they still only have it on one train a day, I believe. The battery’s down to 23 percent, so I can’t write for a terribly long time. I could have brought my power cord and plugged in to the train, but I didn’t. No problem – the new battery can last pretty much the entire one-way trip, which allows me to index and blog. Which I believe we can all agree is an excellent use of my commuting time.

LRN1’s reading days are temporarily over! We dropped him off at the Oakland airport this morning, hugged him, told him we love him, and watched him walk away. What an emotional day. Last evening’s setting apart was also a wonderful experience, if a bit emotional too. As mentioned yesterday.

I’m really going to miss LRN1. Our relationship has been very close. Experience tells me the time will pass as if it were a dream, but I’m still feeling the loss right now. On the positive side, I’m moving my computer stuff back into his bedroom, which will heretofore be know as “my office.” Can’t complain about that. He could, I suppose, but he hasn’t.

Anyway. I’ll write letters at least weekly and hope to hear from him every week. We expect great things to happen, both for him and by him. Pray for his success, please, Loyal Readers.

Got to work a couple of hours late due to the airport trip. LRN2 and LRN4 dropped me off at the Santa Clara train station so I could pick up my beloved pickup. We also thoughtfully pre-positioned my Honda at the Lardville train station, so I don’t need to get the Loyal Readers to come pick me up on that end. Which is good, since it’s Massive Meeting Tuesday.

And we’re almost home and I’m almost out of batteries. So I’ll end with this shocking food violence news: Nacho fight!

See you tomorrow.

Stiff drivers

Thursday, February 4th, 2010


Here’s a beautiful old Ford being driven by a somewhat stuffy couple. In fact, we never got a word out of ’em. If I’m not mistaken, this is a rare Ford Model K – an expensive precursor to the Model T. Great Art taken at the Sacramento auto museum on Christmas Eve and part of my famous Machinery series.

The weekend’s here! Tomorrow’s my off Friday, and it’s Thursday evening, so that counts. Good day at work – got a few things done, didn’t get a few others done. Some great stuff is happening, which will probably be discussed at a future date. Also, I got a few man-months added to my funding this year, which is really good. Really.

No post yesterday – I stayed home sick. Had a very sore throat and a pretty serious headache. Slept it off and felt much better by evening. I faded a little this afternoon, but all’s well. Thanks to Anon for noticing, as usual.

Went to my first Scouting district committee meeting this evening. I already knew most of the people there, including my counselor Jason and my former colleague on the high council Rich. Not to mention everybody else. Pretty productive meeting, although I’m still not quite sure what an Assistant District Commissioner is supposed to be doing. Maybe I should just keep attending meetings until somebody asks me to do something. Or maybe I should go to the Scouting website and look for training. Which is probably there.

Anyway. I signed up for the family history indexing program yesterday and indexed my first 51 names. Also took a bunch of their training. I’ve decided to bring my personal laptop to work every day for a while and index on the train during the ride home. I did another 100 names today. It’s great because you can work offline – just have to download some batches ahead of time, and you can submit them the next time you have a connection. Pretty slick. And it’s fun too!

There’s a ward challenge going on right now, pitting the Young Men (my department) against the Young Women, Melchizedek Priesthood, and Relief Society to see who can index the most names during the month of February. The YM are widely thought to be the underdog in the competition, what with their heavy videogaming requirement and extreme sleep training. I’m trying to do my part, anyway. You would think that such a computer-savvy group would be way out ahead, but I haven’t spoken with any of them who are too interested. I’m having fun, though.

And that’s about it for tonight. Lots to do this weekend. Unfortunately, we decided to cancel our family camping trip due to the expected heavy rains and strong winds and cold temperatures. Not the best combination for a fun camping experience. So we’ll probably go to the ward dinner on Friday night and get a bunch of other things done. Need to reserve plenty of time for fun and frolic, though, this being LRN1’s final weekend at home before his full-time mission starts. I can’t believe it’s upon us already! I’m really going to miss him, but he’ll be having a wonderful experience and the time will pass much more quickly than any of us realizes.

I’ll leave you with this shocking Food Violence news: biscuit crash! Be careful out there when going out for breakfast.

See you tomorrow.

Cool truck

Friday, January 29th, 2010


Here’s LRN2 in front of one of the coolest trucks I’ve ever seen. It’s unrestored and in great condition. I want one. Now. Great Art taken at the Sacramento automotive museum and part of my famous Machinery series.

Extreme Short Shrift. Another busy night. I spent most of the evening training my replacement on the high council – an extremely nice young man who will do very well. I’m sure going to miss those guys. Have plenty to do now, though.

No post yesterday. Worked, ate, exercised, and slept. Good day, but no time for blogging. Sigh.

LRN2 got in the newspaper today – front page! Congrats, LRN2! You’re world famous in Lardville.

Gotta get to bed. I’ll leave my Loyal Readers with this shocking domestic food violence news: meatloaf attack.

See you Monday.

Record collection

Monday, January 25th, 2010


Here’s an interior detail of the place LRN4 and I stayed in Moke Hill. Interesting storage arrangement for their record collection. Part of my famous Machinery series.

I didn’t miss a day this time! No need for Anon to get excited.

Got released from the high council and sustained as the stake Young Men president on Sunday. I’m sad to leave the high council – I really enjoyed my stay there and it was way too short – but excited and a bit overwhelmed about my new responsibility. Let’s just say there will be plenty to do. And a lot more meetings, I believe. Plus, I’ll still get to speak in sacrament meeting every month, which I like doing very much.

Anyway. Pretty good weekend, if a busy one. It was LRN5’s birthday on Saturday, and we spent an enjoyable evening of fun and frolic. Went to a Young Women activity on Saturday and worked pretty hard on church stuff on Sunday. Then slept.

Did I mention that LRN4 and I went to a great concert on January 15? Well, we did – short description here. It was at the Gallo Center in Modesto, which is a beautiful facility, and was very nice. Also the price was right – LRN4’s visiting teaching companion had won the tickets and couldn’t use them, so we got them for free. Had a very nice time listening to some beautiful (and beautifully performed) music.

Well, LRN4 has tasted blood, and she wants more. We’re going to the opera this Saturday night. The Merry Widow, to be specific. Back at the Gallo Center, of course. All four of us are going this time and looking forward to it.

Time for bed. I’ll leave you with this shocking news of Official Food Violence. Our boys in blue have done it again.

See you tomorrow