morrowlife

Here’s Loyal Reader Number Four finding perhaps the biggest geocache container we’ve ever gotten. Good job, LRN4! Part of my famous Camping series.

Wonders of Blogger today. First time I’ve had to do that in quite a while. I’m blaming the Apple TV.

Yes, it arrived yesterday. Very cool. It’s not perfect – can’t stream BYU TV yet, as far as I can tell, but I’ll bet that will come. I think individuals can contribute to that project – maybe I’ll do that. I got Boxee installed almost immediately and it works perfectly too. We can watch any of those gazillions of TV shows whenever we want! Yipee. I also set up Pandora on it, which works nicely. Lots of Appley goodness there.

The cheese factory tour was fun. We went to what turns out to be the biggest cheese factory in the world. There were eight of us – four yoots and four parents. They showed us how to make cheese by having us make our own. It was surprisingly easy. I’ve been paying way too much for cheese. Amusingly, they started out our tour by having an HR person show us the company’s recruiting video. Cue music: “Be . . . all that you can be, ’cause we need you . . . in the cheeeeese factory!”

Had some friends over for a small group dinner in the evening. Two couples came. We had a nice time, but were dreading going back to the church for the dessert portion. Last time, it was so noisy you couldn’t hear yourself think, which kind of put a damper on the whole thing. This time the noise was much better controlled, so we could at least hear each other. We played a game, ate, and went home, having enjoyed it.

Not much else to talk about. Day one of my ten-day vacation is at a close. Nine more to go. So far, so good.

Reminder for next week – blogging unlikely. Comment! See you a week from Monday.

Here’s Loyal Reader Number Two, sitting on the dock of the bay. Well, standing on the dock of the river, anyway. Part of my famous Camping series.

No April Fools’ Day post. Thanks to Anon for noticing. I had to work for a couple hours after I got home and then there was the new TV to set up. Which seems to be working fine – played video through it from a DVD player and it looks and even sounds great. I’m especially gratified about the sound – flat panel TVs have a nasty reputation for their sound quality. The TV even has a good number of inputs, including two HDMI ports, composite video, and even coax cable. Very good.

Slightly sad news though – the FedEx guy showed up today with the Apple TV, and both Loyal Readers were in the shower. Sigh. We have to wait until tomorrow now. Double sigh.

But nothing can bring me down too much this evening – it’s vacation time! I’m off for ten whole days. We’re camping for six of them, as previously discussed.

The rest of the days will be the busy ones. We have our cheese factory tour tomorrow mid-day and then a few couples over for dinner in the evening. Plus, I’ll be installing the Apple TV and playing around with it, of course.

Saturday, Loyal Readers Numbers Three, Five, Six, Twelve, and Fifteen are coming over for the day. That’s right, LRN3 and LRN15 are in town for a few days for LRN15’s birthday, which is today.

Speaking of which, Happy Birthday, LRN15! We’re happier than you’ll probably ever know that you’re a member of our family. Especially since it was by choice! You join Loyal Readers Numbers Four and Six in that distinction. What were you all thinking?

Anyway. Saturday is also General Conference. We probably won’t get to see much because of the visit, but we can easily go back and see the missing sessions on BYU-TV.

Sunday will be the rest of General Conference and a Stake leadership training session in the evening.

Then we’re off on Monday morning for six days of fun and frolic, followed by Easter at home with LRN5, LRN6, LRN12, and my brother Chris with his Special friend and her two children.

Busy.

We don’t have many plans for the campout. I hope to geocache a time or two. Might bring the RC helicopter again. Its battery is pretty short-lived, but it’s fun to fly for the minute or two you get at a time.

I hope to do a bunch of reading, hiking, and napping too. Emphasis on the reading and napping.

LRN2 went to the doctor’s office today and was given antibiotics. We hope they do the trick Real Soon Now. And LRN4 and I hope he keeps it to himself.

No food violence today, but I do have a Very Special Morrowlife Controversy: How do my Loyal Readers feel about this? My answer: No answer. Do you think I’m crazy or something?

Important Morrowlife Disclosure: If my Loyal Readers ever wonder why I stay out of the cleaning supplies, it’s just that I’m trying to save my marriage.

Official Morrowlife warning: blogging is highly unlikely next week. The probability of wifi being available in the park is very low. I’ll try to get something lame (as usual) posted from the exclusive Treo if at all possible. Otherwise, feel free to keep things going in the comments and await anxiously for my return. I’ll be here tomorrow, though, so Cold Turkey doesn’t start for a while.

See you tomorrow.

Here’s Liberace’s harp-playing statue. Taken at the Wedding of the Century and part of my famous Statue series.

Well, March has come and gone. It was a beautiful day today, so it must have come in like a Lion. I don’t recall that, though. But it must be true – old wives are never wrong.

Fairly standard day. It’s Meetingless Tuesday this evening for me, although Loyal Reader Number Four is out doing a Girls Camp first aid training session.

Loyal Reader Number Two has been feeling pretty sick the last couple of days. Pretty much cold symptoms and a bit of a fever. He has my pity (link warning: sound). Fortunately, he was able to go take his two-day state-required tests yesterday and today in spite of his discomfort. Didn’t sleep well last night, though.

I ordered the Apple TV for our bedroom today. I sure hope we love it. It’s actually pretty reasonably priced, considering what else is out there. And it’s very hackable. I already have my Boxee installation thumb drive loaded and waiting. I’m excited to get it. Should be here about the time the new TV arrives.

Thanks to the Loyal Readers for their comments. Loyal Reader Number One and I have started planning a summer project, as he mentioned. We’re going to turn his RC truck into an autonomous vehicle, hopefully with GPS navigation and active collision avoidance. I think it’ll be a lot of fun.

Or did I mention that yesterday? Don’t remember and don’t want to look it up right now – the train’s in the mountains and internet connections are spotty. So it stays and my Loyal Readers have to suffer. As usual.

No toilet news or food violence today. We do have a food-related controversy, though. Would you buy this? More importantly, would you eat it? Could you eat it? My answers: probably not, possibly, and definitely.

See you tomorrow.

Here’s a great big box that was at the entrance to the camping loop at Dos Reis. No traffic lights. No flashing lights. No traffic control of any kind. Just a big box. Part of my famous Camping series.

Okay weekend. The Saturday trip to Great America was fun, and the weather cannot be described as anything but ideal. I’m glad we went. As soon as we got home, I threw on a suit and went immediately to the Young Women dinner and broadcast. Got home pretty late.

Sunday was pretty much as usual, although I didn’t get together with the Branch. Did Girls Camp work instead. There’s a bunch more to do.

Also found some time Sunday to put Ubuntu on Shemp and get him set up in the family room. Had a couple of disappointments, though: the Linux version of Boxee doesn’t have Hulu access like the latest Mac version does, and I can’t seem to make the machine play a DVD. Sigh.

I think I’ll put Windows back on and try to be as happy as possible until a better solution comes along. Which will probably be AppleTV, the only solution I’ve seen so far that Just Works.

Anyway. Loyal Reader Number One and I are working on plans to build an autonomous vehicle this summer, based on LRN1’s RC truck. Seems doable. We’re pretty excited about it.

Loyal Reader Number Two is feeling under the weather today. Best wishes for a quick recovery, LRN2! And don’t heal like your sister, who is still sick a month later. Yikes.

Let’s have a look at the world of food violence, shall we? If ever there was something not worth shooting over, it’s this. Today’s controversy: Do my Loyal Readers think it’s worse than this? My answer: The shooting was more dangerous, but the tackling actually hurt someone. In any case, they ought to be settling these disputes peacefully.

See you tomorrow.

Here’s Liberace’s Egyptian statue. Additional comments are unnecessary. Part of my famous Statue series.

Well, another work week lurches to completion. Pretty good week, all things considered. Got a few things accomplished, left a few things out.

Loyal Reader Number Four cut the TV cable today, at least figuratively. No actual cords were cut in the making of this blog.

Anyway. We’re tied to the intertubes for our electronic entertainment now. Fortunately, LRN4 was able to negotiate a sweet deal on higher-speed internet for about the same price we were paying before for lower-speed service, and much lower than that lower-speed service was going to cost us without cable TV service to provide a package discount. We should be running at high speed sometime tomorrow. Woo hoo!

LRN4 is quite the negotiator. She should be in sales. Or maybe purchasing. I think I know what her job will be when Gardenville takes off.

Things are otherwise pretty normal. We’re heading out to Great America tomorrow morning and then I have the General Young Women Broadcast and Dinner to attend in the evening. Not much else is likely to happen, although the pond really needs to have its filter cleaned. It’s Spring Algae Bloom season big-time right now, and I need to give the fellas every advantage they can get. Maybe I’ll find a few minutes to get that done. Some of the cars are in desperate need of a wash and/or wax, but that’s simply not going to be possible. The following weekend promises to be busy too, but I think there’s a much better chance of getting washage done then.

Maybe I should be offering Loyal Reader Number Two a financial incentive to wash a car or two.

Let’s have a quick look at today’s food violence news: These hamburgers might kill you. I think that counts as food violence, don’t you?

Here’s an interesting website for my Loyal Readers who are searching for a name for their rock band and a title and artwork for their next album. Here’s my first effort:

What do my Loyal Readers think? Try one yourself. It’s fun!

I’m struggling to decide whether to keep saving for my English estate or to just buy this. There would be less travel, and I’m sure it’s a nice place. Plus, I’ve always wanted my own gift wrapping room. Still, the English place has its own cricket wicket, and that’s certainly worth something.

See you tomorrow.