Notebook Bogging #3

Class has been going well. I am the type of person who likes to "learn on the job" as in, I like to actually do what I am learning to do as I learn, if that makes any sense. :p There are so many things I have learned that I want to get out and do construction-wise it is not even funny. This past week I learned how to build kitchen cabinets and fortunately I actually got to build them. We have every tool you can imagine in class, so I was able to dovetail the drawers for the cabinets which was very cool.

This week we also had a new class member, Rosco, who happens to be a dog, a Beagle and Chihuahua mix to be exact. Mr. T got him Sunday night and since he is only a little puppy and was yapping and missing his brothers, sisters and mother, he was brought to class. The first day unless he was being held all he did was whine, but by the second day he was scampering around the class and following Mr. T everywhere. I am not the type of person who fawns over puppies but I have to say Rosco is probably the cutest puppy I have seen mainly because he is so small. His legs are no longer than my index finger and his head is only a little larger than a baseball and yet he is jumping all around people's feet like any other puppy.

We have an air hose in the shop that is used for the nail guns and such, it is also used to clean up the sawdust after class. Yesterday everyone in class was introduced to Anthony's singing ability or lack thereof as he cleaned with the air hose. With the air hose full blast, Anthony started this rather comical song and dance number that involved shouting out lyrics to a song while spraying air in random places all tied together with some mosh pit type dance. It was hilarious to say the least even though I could not quite understand the song he was singing.

As soon as it gets warmer we are going to start construction on the first of two houses we will build and finish before the end of May. It actually is not that cold outside to me, but Mr T. is a warm weather person so until it is warm enough for him we can't start building. While we wait for warmer weather everyone has been given the assignment of building something in the shop. I really wish I had a house I could build cabinets for, but since I don't, I think I will probably just make some furniture. The two ideas I am thinking on are either this rather plain dresser:


Or this rather interesting looking bookcase/room divider:

Polo shirts.....

I like "polo" shirts, aka a short sleeved shirt with a collar which typically has 2-3 buttons below the collar and is usually made of cotton. Like this:
They have been adopted by most people in today's society as "business casual" attire. Not as dressy as a button down shirt with a tie, but nicer than a regular old t-shirt. Actually for most people today, a polo is considered "dressy". I have a whole post on society and the standards of clothing but it will have to wait because that is not today's topic. Today the topic is polo shirts, or rather one thing about them that is slightly irritating.

When good ol' René Lacoste started making his "polo" shirts (They were not called polo shirts back then) I am not sure if the shirts had the two small slits on the bottom of either side but most polo shirts today have them. I know there must be a purpose behind those two small slits, after all, fashion always has been created with a purpose, no? :p

Anyway those two slits at the bottom of a polo shirt while interesting, weaken the structural integrity of the shirt. Ha! I bet you never thought you would be reading the words "structural integrity" in the context of shirts. Yes, the slits are reinforced, but nevertheless they are still a weak link, ready to be exploited to the detriment of the poor shirt!

Now maybe this is not the case for everyone, but I have to be careful when putting on polo shirts because if I am not, a sound reaches my ears which is painful to any purchaser of clothes. The sound of the very threads of the shirt ripping right at that little slit at the bottom of the shirt.
Believe me I have tried to prevent it and as long as I don't stretch too much while putting on the shirt usually it is saved from damage. Still, I feel those two little slits at the bottom of my shirt have no real purpose other than to cause me irritation and should be done away with....Below is my poor orange (which happens to be one of my favorite colors) polo and the results of me not being careful.... :(

Something to brighten your day !!!

I have been told that I do not post enough. I will try to work on posting more. :)
The following picture I drew..... I can't draw........unless it is stick figures.....so don't expect too much from this picture.
Also, if you have not watch Napoleon Dynamite, then you probably will not appreciate it to the fullest extreme. :) :)

I am a landlord...

First, I am sorry I have been lax in posting recently, I was not even able to get a "stupid people" post out until this morning and I have yet to find the time to type up the post I have in my notebook. It was not that long anyway, hopefully by next week I will have more written up. My reason for not posting is because I have been busy but also because I have been trying to spend less time sitting in front of the computer screen. It is good because it gives me more time to do things like drive Nick crazy with my woeful guitar playing, :D but it is also somewhat bad, since I checked my email this morning and had 17 new messages! Anyway on to the post title!

I am now a landlord....I have had my apartment up for sale since mid-October. While several people have been very interested when they go for a loan because the mortgage industry is in a bit of a mess right now most buyers have not been able to get funding. Rather than let my apartment just sit empty and collect dust, I decided I might as well make some money with it. The good thing is the lady who is renting it wants to buy it, her credit is low but the bank has told her that if she rents and pays on time for 6-12 months she should qualify for a loan.

The only negative about renting is she wanted me to provide a washer/dryer and a refrigerator, the cost of which would be added to the purchase price when she buys the apartment as well as the rent being raised a bit. So with the truck and my dad we set out to get some appliances. The first stop was the Sears outlet where I picked up a stackable washer and dryer. There were no refrigerators there so we drove across the street to pick up one at Costco, then it was back to the apartment to put everything in it's place. Once we had everything unloaded into the apartment we discovered we had some issues. The first issue involved the refrigerator and the planks that were attached to the bottom with several bolts. We had no socket set, but a call to Garon who was over at disaster house working on the wiring fixed that. He had a socked wrench and one socket, which amazingly happened to be just the size we needed, funny how things happen like that.

The second issue happened to involve the refrigerator as well. This one was a little more serious, it would not fit in the kitchen door.....In seems in my apartment all the doorways are smaller than in a regular house. We tried to take the fridge door off but since we did not have the necessary tools it was my idea that we just go through the hole in the wall connecting the kitchen to the main living room:

I know that hole has a name but my mind can't think of it right now, so I will just call it the hole in the wall. :p Anyway getting the fridge through the hole into the kitchen was relatively easy, we just turned it sideways hoisted it up and pushed it through, though it did bump the hanging lamp several times.

But the refrigerator issues were minor compaired to the washer/dryer issue. In the apartment, the washer and dryer go into the half bath in this little nook. The nook was small but we figured the stackable washer and dryer would fit...What we did not think about was the smaller doorways in my apartment.....The half bath's door frame is 23".... 23 inches! The washer and dryer is 27, so it was four inches too big! My first thought was to check for a smaller washer and dryer but alas the smallest I have been able to find through special order is 24" still an inch too large....So today I return the 27" and next week I probably will have to order the 24" and just take the door frame off to get in in!!!! The moral of this post is this, if you every live in an apartment, measure before you buy any appliances!

People being stupid news item of the week

"Too cold to walk" for car thieves

TORONTO (Reuters) - A group of teenage car thieves took a joy ride to a court-ordered counselling program aimed to keep them away from stealing cars, Winnipeg police said on Tuesday.

The four suspects, aged 16 and 17, were attending the counselling program in the Canadian prairie city as part of a court order relating to previous auto thefts, said Detective Sergeant Kevin Kavitch of the city's stolen-autos unit.

A local newspaper suggested the teens had stolen the car because it was "too cold to walk" to their court ordered training program, although Kavitch described it as a crime of opportunity. Winnipeg daytime temperatures dipped to -40 degrees Celsius last week, with wind chill.

Kavitch said three of the four suspects are level four offenders, the highest designation for chronic auto thieves in the city.

More than a dozen cars are stolen every day in Winnipeg, and the city has introduced a program where high-risk offenders are called as often as every three hours to ensure they are not out stealing cars.

"This is the perfect example of where you get a lot of resources going to certain people," said Kavitch. "And some people still make dumb decisions."

Yes -40 degrees Celsius is on the cold side, but did these guys not think to take a bus or something?

By the fire

I am always on the look out for a great book to read or movie to watch! This week I read a WONDERFUL book called God's Smugglers by Brother Andrew and watched a good movie called Saving Sarah Cain.


The book God's smugglers is about a Dutch missionary who becomes legendary in the Evangelical Christan world for his ability to smuggle thousands of Bibles into Communist countries in the 1960's and later. I really loved this book because of how much faith,trust and love this man had for God!

The movie Saving Sarah Cain is a sweet film! It's about a woman who is forced to take in her sister's 5 kids after her death. The children are Amish and have lived very different lives than their aunt! She takes them to live in the city with her, enrolls them in public school and their journey as a family starts! This is a great family film that will leave you in tears!

I also wanted to add two songs that this past week have meant a lot to me! One is "My Savior" By Krystal Meyers. My favorite part is :

"My Savior
I'm laying it at your feet
Your love, it consumes me
My Savior
You've given me all I need
Your grace and your mercy"

And the another song called Set the world On Fire By Britt Nicole.
I love this song SO much !! My favorite part is :

"I, I am small but You, You are big enough
I, I am weak but You, You are strong enough to
Take my dreams Come and give them wings Lord with
You There’s nothing I can not do Nothing I cannot do"

Hope every one has an awesome day!!

You Are Everything

I am not really into posting lyrics from songs but Matthew West's new album, Something to Say, was released last Tuesday and he has a song on the album called "You Are Everything" The single has actually been out for a while so you may have heard it playing on the radio. You know how sometimes a song will hit you and get stuck in your head? Well this song has been going around in my head since I first heard it several weeks ago....

Verse 1
I’m the one with two left feet
Standing on a lonely street
I can’t even walk a straight line
And every time you look at me
I’m spinning like an autumn leaf
Bound to hit bottom sometime
Where would I be without someone to save me
Someone who won’t let me fall

chorus
You are everything that I live for
Everything that I can’t believe is happening
You’re standing right in front of me
With arms wide open
All I know is
Every day is filled with hope
You are everything that I believe for
And I can’t help but breathe you in
Breathe again
Feeling all this life within
Every single beat of my heart

Verse 2
I’m the one with big mistakes
Big regrets and bigger breaks
Than I ever care to confess
Oh but, You’re the one who looks at me
And sees what I was meant to be
More than just a beautiful mess
Where would I be without someone to save me
Someone who won’t let me fall

(Chorus)

Bridge
You’re everything good in my life
Everything honest and true
And all of those stars hanging up in the sky
Could never shine brighter than You

(Chorus)

You are
You are
Jesus, You are
You are everything

If you have not heard it, you can listen to the whole song on Matthew West's myspace. ( I in no way endorse myspace but it is nice to listen to the whole song for free if you haven not heard it)

How about some more snow pictures?

Yes! Haha I know blog readers are probably rolling their eyes right now and mentally groaning. You may be thinking to yourself, those crazy Toaster bloggers keep posting pictures of their 1-inch snow storm, and they are not even great pictures, enough already!!! Well since not much has happened in the past few days except our paltry snow fall all I have to blog with is snow pictures. :p While my sisters were spending their time trying to toss each other and various articles of clothing into the creek, I was wondering around with my lens cap in my mouth taking pictures, some of which are worth taking a gander at if I do say so myself....*Note* unless you click the picture to zoom in you will not see all the detail. ;)

Ok, I promise no more posts on snow...at least until it snows again :p

More snow pictures :)

Little man walking..

Samuel fishing Molly's hat out of the stream.
Somebody told him to throw it in ...... alright I confess... it was me :)
Molly WAS not at all pleased.
After Sam threw it in however... he realized that since he threw it in....he was now expected to some how get it out. Hence the fishing stick...... you can see it if you look really closely.

Fishing.....

Still fishing......

Ah ha........once he was sucessful He promptly tossed the hat to Molly.... and fell in the stream :)

Snow day at CLF

Since yesterday it snowed an inch, today we decided to explore the woods. Samuel wandered around ahead of every one.
Matthew and I pretty much scraped every fallen tree to make a huge snowball. Well...... the snow ball was huge for Matthew.......

He was quite excited about the snowball as you can tell from his face here.


Here he is... thinking serious thoughts......like I wonder what will happen if I throw this at Anna???

William has a strange facial expression...... what can I say?????
(He says it is because I stole his tea......not true... I was merely holding his empty cup while he took pictures of....... stuff)

If Anna and Molly stay outside too long they start acting like cats, 'nuff said

There are snowflakes in my eye

Last night we had a ring around the moon which is supposed to mean we are going to get some type of bad weather be it rain or snow.... I tried to capture it but my camera's lens is on the low end so this was the best I was able to do:

The ring around the moon is still pretty easy to see, it
is caused by ice crystals in the upper atmosphere BTW

So it started to slowly snow this afternoon...

It started falling a little faster....

Then it really came down for a while...


But alas since the ground was not all that cold so even though we had a pretty good amount of snow falling, the amount we ended up with on the ground was slightly more than an inch....Ah well not much you can do with an inch of snow it is almost worse than not getting any at all.

People being stupid news item of the week

Dummy Carpooler leads to fine

KENT, Wash. — The solo driver attempting to use the carpool lane had worked hard to fashion a realistic "dummy" passenger but failed to secure his mannequin with a seat belt to make sure it was visible to state troopers. That led to a $124 fine.

A State Patrol trooper stopped the man early Wednesday for traveling alone in the carpool lane of State Route 167. Only once the car was stopped did the trooper see the elaborately dressed mannequin, which had slumped forward in the rear passenger seat because it was not belted in and thus was not visible to the trooper as the car rolled by.

The dummy sported a denim jacket, hooded sweatshirt and glasses. The driver had also painted on bright blue eyes and a heavy black beard. "This guy, he went to great extremes," State Patrol spokesman Trooper Jeff Merrill said. The 41-year-old driver was cited for a high occupancy lane violation.

The dummy:

Unrepentant, the driver told the trooper that next time he'd prop the mannequin in the front passenger seat and remember to belt it in, Merrill said. "It's not a crime to have" the dummy, the State Patrol spokesman said. "But if you use it to cheat, then you're gonna get a ticket."

The traffic stop and the mannequin drew gawkers and that led to a two-car fender bender. No one was hurt. :p

Notebook Blogging #2

There is a guy in class named Anthony who always sits next to me. Anthony is a pretty funny guy but he has a slight issue, he always seems to be sleepy. My alter ego being as it is, I am able to notice the signs of sleepy people, it is one of my special powers you could say. Besides that, I also know Anthony is sleepy because he has fallen asleep, in class, next to me, more than once!!

The first time it happened Mr. T. our teacher, was talking about footings and estimating the amount of concrete you need, very basic stuff. Anthony had pulled his hood over his head and was just sitting on my right occasionally nodding. After a while I hear this slight humming sound to my right that keeps getting louder. It takes me a second to realize it is coming from Anthony, he has fallen asleep.

People who have been around me know I laugh a lot, I have a funky sense of humor and ordinary things will sometimes just hit me and I will start laughing. Well I am in class trying to make sure there is nothing important being said but all I can think about is silly Anthony sitting next to me snoring away. I mean he started off soft but after about a minute he was really sawing. I was seriously having a hard time keeping the laughter back and finally after five minutes it all decided to escape in this very loud half giggle half laugh.Mr. T. turns to me and says "Everything making sense?" It was all I could do to stop laughing and squeak out an "I'm good"

My loud eruption had snapped Anthony back from whatever marshmallow cloud he was on and for the rest of the class he was able to keep he eyes open. But a few days later, the same thing happened. This time, though I was prepared, as soon as he started snoring I made myself think of antique wall scones and Thai brass ashtrays. It did the trick I did not laugh, that was until Mr. T yelled for someone to slap Anthony because he had fallen asleep again. :p

William's Birthday !!

Last Monday was William's 23 birthday !!!:) Yes I know that was a little over a week ago but, I felt bad since no one said anything about his birthday! William was very sad that it did not SNOW!!! ( He is still upset about this!) Instead of snow we had beautiful 70 degree weather!:)

My brother is :

crazy.....

But I guess we all are!:)

VERY strong!

Can make every one smile !

and looks great in anything!


I could go on, on, on, about my wonderful brother !! We love you William and happy late birthday!!!

The fastest dryer this side of the Smokeys

In some complex and weird equation yet to be completely understood by man, I occasionally end up in the kitchen with the job of cleaning it firmly on my shoulders and my shoulders alone. It is times like this that I usually turn on music and clean the kitchen as only I can, very slowly while singing.... :p Several nights ago I found myself in this situation yet again, I looked over at my brother Matthew who was sitting on the couch and asked kiddingly if he wanted to be my dryer. Matthew jumped up with an enthusiastic YES and so I washed and Matthew dried. Let me tell you, Matthew is a fast dryer, faster than anyone else in our house. If there was a kitchen cleaning contest I know who I would want on the towel drying!

Sorry the pictures are slightly overly dramatic funny things happen when Matthew is around a camera...

Win a bag

Go HERE and enter to win a free bag.

I think they are so cute... just the perfect size to carry my piano books in. :)

It's late....

I was in bed
but all I did was toss and turn
I closed my eyes
but my brain still churned

I roam the halls
it's past midnight
my stomach growls
maybe it needs a bite

Weaving in and out of
furniture in the pitch black
a chair out of place gives
my shin a bruising whack

In the kitchen I arrive
and food I do find though
it does nothing to ease my
overly active mind

All I want to do is sleep in my bed
but there are so many thoughts
running..
through..
my head!

I sit down at the computer
stare blankly at the screen
that sounds so cliche if you
know what I mean

I type up the lines that
you have read above
my fingers tapping the
keys they are so fond of

I think I will go read a book
Somehow this post just lost it's rhyming
sorry for that I am sometimes not the best person with timing
If you ever awake and can't get to sleep
my advice would be just to get something to eat :)

People being Stupid News item of the Week

Two men try to cash dead friend's check (NYT)

Two men in New York are facing charges in a bizarre case where they were caught with a corpse at a check cashing store. Police say they were trying to cash in on their friend's death.

NYPD Police Commissioner Ray Kelly says "if you like 'Weekend at Bernies' you're gonna like this story." Even the police commissioner couldn't believe the story. Today a first glimpse of the two men who police say wheeled their dead friend's body in an office chair to try and cash his $365 Social Security check. They said they didn't do it.

But 55-year-old David Galoia and 65-year-old James O'Hare are accused of trying to pull off the stunt at this Pay-o-Matic on 9th Avenue, a stunt out of a Hollywood movie. Police say when their good friend, 66-year-old Virgilio Cintron, died they saw an opportunity. They put his dead body in an office chair, somehow got him down the stairs of his Midtown walkup, and literally wheeled him over to the check cashing store.

Ray Kelly says "they left him outside in the chair then went into the establishment and tried to arrange to have the check cashed, meanwhile a crowd developed." Witness Aref Algazli said "one of them was on his right side, one of them was on his left side and his neck was back." When asked if he could believe they tried to pull it off, witness Victor Gonzalez said "not really but its sick you know."

With all the commotion, a detective having a burrito at the restaurant next door decided to check it out, discovering the man was dead. Turns out police say Cintron had Parkinson's and died of natural causes.

Galioa and O'Hare were both charged with attempted forgery, attempted possession of a forged instrument, and petty larceny. No charges have been filed referring to the dead body.
Apparently police determined wheeling a dead person through the streets in this case, is not against the law.

This reminds me of the film "Waking Ned Devine" where an older gentleman dies after winning the lottery and his friend pretends to be him to cash in the ticket.

Ummmm... My mind is not like a sieve....most days!

I know... I was supposed to pick up the slack when William started school... But this week it really was like my mind was a sieve. Have you ever have so many thoughts going through your head that it is impossible to separate them? I'm not sure that make sense but that is how I have felt this week. I had so many things on my mind that I couldn't just sit down and blog about one thought.
Plus, due to the gorgeous weather, I was outside with Sam and Matthew a lot this week. One thing to mention...... Don't ever play the Daisy game with Matthew..... just don't!!!!
Hmmmm... now that I have got you interested, I guess I will have to tell you why that game is dangerous.
The daisy game involves everyone spinning around in a circle as fast a they can with their arms outstretched until they fall down. The last person standing is the winner...... (fyi I wasn't the winner, Sam was.) The daisy game can give you a very bad headache and make you feel queasy. I am not sure why it is call the Daisy game... I guess Matthew made up the name.

Another reason why I often refrain from posting:
Some times I will want to post something..... something that happened in my day or a funny story I heard. So, I sit at the computer, click new post and all the words just leave. Its like a great white cloud has invaded my thoughts... and no matter what I do...no matter how hard I try to fight it, my post ends up coming out differently than I wanted it.

Now I must go finish Northanger Abbey.

~*Sarah*~

Notebook Blogging #1

The day is overcast, a crowd is gathered outside a doorway. Smoke rises like a cloud above their heads. It is break time and that means it is time to kill yourself, slowly, painfully, carcinogenicity. The group is comprised of young men in their 20s, their whole life in front of them and yet daily they stand outside and slowly destroy the most unique machine they will ever control, their own bodies. I think all this as I walk past them into the building, what caused them to get hooked on tobacco? Was it the need to fit in with their friends? Maybe it is how they deal with the stress of their life, standing outside, crowded under a brick overhang, in an attempt to avoid life's trials. It does not really matter how nicotine got it's addictive hands in their life, they are hooked. Rather dismal wouldn't you say?

Classes started this week, hence the lack of blog posts. I have urged Sarah several times to post but she keeps saying her mind is like a sieve or something. During my breaks rather than join the above mentioned crowd outside I have been writing this post in my notebook. Writing out things rather than typing them has been interesting, lots of crossed out lines and little arrows as to how things should be. Also there is the whole spelling issue, I am a pretty good speller, but without the crutch of spell check I eventually just gave up trying to think of how to spell "carcinogenicity" :p I guess it does not really matter what my notebook looks like, no one will probably ever read it but it was slightly hard to read and type up, I think this had something to do with all the arrows....

Except for the fact that everyone pretends they are a chimney in the winter during breaks, the classes have been very informative and actually rather fun. Then again I can't remember a class I have ever had that I did not enjoy, hard yes, but I still enjoyed them. I always approach class situations with the mindset that you are there to learn something and you can either view it as a chore you have to get done or you can view it as an opportunity to gain knowledge that will help you become a better person in some aspect of your life, even if it is just the ability to take well organized notes.

If you did not read my 2007 post or talked with me recently there is a chance you probably have no idea why I am back at school taking classes, if you want to know go read the post or call me or chat me up on Google talk sometime. I am writing in a notebook here, I don't feel like wasting my ink and paper on something I already have talked about. Beside someone might have missed the 2007 post and while it is long and rambles, I think it is worth reading. (Not to toot my own horn) :p Some funny things worth blogging on have already happened in class but I think I will save them for another time. :)

Cell phone Tip #12

Turning off your cell phone is effectively turning it into a wimpy paperweight. If you are in a location that will not allow you to answer your phone, rather than TURN OFF the phone, switch the ring method to vibrate. That way you will still be able to know that people are trying to contact you even if you are unable to take a call at the time. If you happen to be someone who is in the habit of texting you might even be in a position to text the person calling you and find out why they were calling. Unless you have a dead battery and the phone dies, under no circumstances should a cell phone be turned off! Thank you, that is all :)

The weather is messed up

What to blog about.....Not much has happened to me in the last week, sure we had some old friends come over last Monday, then a family from church on Tuesday but nothing really blog-worthy. Well we did learn this funny game from our friends but it would be hard to describe it on here. ;) So for this past week I have mainly read books from my never ending pile...I could go into more detail about the books I finished except I know that if I start typing about the books, the post will end up being my thoughts about the subjects the books talked about rather than the books themselves and I feel slightly lazy ATM and my brain does not want to think about all I feel I could type up so I am not going to do it!

I have now typed out a paragraph that has really nothing to do with the title...The title has to do with the weather, the weather where I live to be exact. To put it simply, something has happened to it! I know readers in colder states may read about our weather and think to themselves (in a Napoleon Dynamite voice) "Lucky!" I personally do not feel this way I am actually quite vexed about our weather. Why you may ask? I will tell you why, it is currently 71F with a slight SW wind of 9 mph. Yes 71 on the 7th of January!!!!! I am serious when I say it is a little depressing, I am a happy person, not much really gets me down to any great extent but 71 in January is just wrong, we don't live in FL! I can remember January 7ths in the past where not only was it cold, we actually had snow yes, snow! Ok, I just felt like getting that off my chest, sorry if the post was a bit disjointed, maybe it is the heat affecting my brain.....

Huck's Rising

Anyone who has been following the Presidential race or for that matter, just listened to the news over the last two days probably knows there was a Presidential primary in Iowa Thursday night and the eventual winners were a bit of a surprise to the political pundits and so called experts. Obama won on the Democratic side with 38% and Huckabee won on the Republican side with 34%

I personally think it is rather silly to put so much weight on who a handful of people in Iowa or New Hampshire and South Carolina think should be the President. But ever since Jimmy Carter won Iowa and went on to win the Presidency our news media seems to think the people in these states have a better grasp over the political climate than anyone else. The news media certainly does not have a grasp as evidenced once again by the "surprising results" out of Iowa.

If you have been a constant reader of the blog, you probably know I am a Mike Huckabee supporter. I know he is not perfect and his record for 10 years as Arkansas's Governor while solid did involve some things I personally would not agree with. At the same time I feel he is best option from the mixed "GOP candidate" bag. I have talked to a number of people who like Huckabee but feel he has no chance to win the nomination so they would rather sit back and see what happens before they make a political decision.

This is, in my opinion a reflection of the lack of backbone in our society. You like a candidate, but you don't think he will win the nomination so you are not going to support him?? Of course he will not win if people have that thought process! In order to enact change you have to be willing to stand up and support a candidate because he is the best candidate for the job regardless of if you think he will win or not. People sometimes are content to let the process move along and then after the conventions are held and Presidential candidates are decided on, then they will support whomever their party's nomination is.

If this is how you operate when it comes to elections, I would encourage you to not be complacent and rely on your political party to pick who they want as President, which will happen if people don't take some time to read about the candidates and their positions. (This does not mean listening to the news media and who they think would be a good choice, as evidenced once again by the Iowa primaries, they rarely have as firm a grasp as they would want you to believe.) Once you have studied all the candidates, make an educated decision on who you personally feel should run for President long before the your party does and then support 100% whomever you choose!

For me that candidate is Mike Huckabee, like I mentioned above, he is not perfect and he has done things I would not agree with but I feel he is the best man for the job regardless of those negatives. I would much rather support Huckabee in a losing cause than be drawn into supporting "Rockefeller Republicans" like Giuliani or Romney. The fact that Huckabee even with paltry fund raising, (2.4 Million vs. $63 million for Romney and $47 million for Giuliani) won in Iowa shows that people are not quite ready to turn in their social conservative badges which is rather encouraging to me.

It is my hope that Mike Huckabee gets the GOP nomination but even after that, the fight against the Democratic nomination, (which I have believed for a while will be Obama, his win in Iowa just caused me to be more firm in my position) will be an uphill battle. As Christians we just have to remember that no matter what happens in November, God is the ruler of the universe and He is in control no matter what happens or who sits in the Oval Office.

Also, regardless if you are a Republican or Democrat tonight would be a good chance to learn some more about the candidates for both parties. ABC is televising debates for both parties starting with the Republicans at 7pm EST tonight. Just remember to push mute when George Stephanopoulos decides to come on and give his thoughts. ;)

People being Stupid News item of the Week

Teens buried speed camera

Two Austrian teenagers have been fined £75,000 for hacking down and burying a roadside speed camera.

Peter Hochstacher and Thomas Moebel, both 19, were snapped by the camera speeding in the town of Lustenau in Austria. They used a pair of axes and a saw they had with them in their car to chop it down and then buried it in a nearby field.

But the box was found by a local farmer as he plowed his land and police who examined it found pictures of the pair on the camera inside and they later confessed to tearing down the device. A local court said the fine would cover the cost of replacing the machine.

For those not in the know, £75,000 is around $150,000....Also, unless these guys are loggers or something of that like why on earth did they have a pair of axes and a saw in their car? :p

Some views on the chicken and the road...

I was reading another blog, and I came across a great post about what people in society would say about the infamous "Chicken and the Road" All credit goes to them.

DR. PHIL: The problem we have here is that this chicken won't realize that he must first deal with the problem on this side of the road before it goes after the problem on the other side of the road. What we need to do is help him realize how stupid he's acting by not taking on his current problems before adding new problems.

OPRAH: Well, I understand that the chicken is having problems, which is why he wants to cross this road so bad. So instead of having the chicken learn from his mistakes and take falls, which is a part of life, I'm going to give this chicken a car so that he can just drive across the road and not live his life like the rest of the chickens.

BILL O'REILLY: The folks don't want the chicken crossing the road. It's clear to any clear-thinking American who thinks clearly and doesn't obfuscate or bloviate. But the secular Left, who continue their war on Chickenmas, want to let all sorts of chickens cross the road, but the folks just won't stand for it. Now stop drinking the Kool-Aid.

ARISTOTLE: It is the nature of chickens to cross the road.

DR SEUSS: Did the chicken cross the road? Did he cross it with a toad? Yes, the chicken crossed the road, but why it crossed I've not been told.

ERNEST HEMINGWAY: To die. In the rain. Alone.

JAMES JOYCE: Slush. Chicken thought "cold" as he stood on the curb, a vehicle roaring past like a lion, sweltering, savanna radiating heat, acacia trees shimmering in the distance. Picnic. Tree. Pie crumbs. Ants. She was lovely, in her own pert way, doctor's office steps yawning, maw gaping, before him, remembering the dreaded meeting. Bad news. Serious look furrows his brow, his hairy eyebrows coming together. Her hair tossed casually aside, giving him that impertinent look as she stepped off the curb. Oh, yes, Chicken remembered, I need to cross the road. But why?

GEORGE W. BUSH: We don't really care why the chicken crossed the road. We just want to know if the chicken is on our side of the road or not. The chicken is either against us or for us. There is no middle ground here. The last thing we need is a chicken with nookyular weapons crossing the road.

PAT BUCHANAN: Chickens shouldn't cross the road! Our chickens should stay on our side of the road, and their chickens should stay on their side of the road. Important American chicken jobs are being stolen by their chickens.

MIKE HUCKABEE: Chicken!? Where? Let me shoot it!

HILLARY CLINTON: At first I supported the chicken crossing the road, and would have voted for it, but then I realized that it's probably, you know, not a good idea for the chicken to cross the road. I mean, I understand why Gov. Spitzer wants to legalize having chickens cross the road, but upon further evaluation, I think, you know ... um, that chickens should be free to choose to cross the road, but that ... um, next question.

BILL CLINTON: I did not cross the road with that chicken. What is your definition of chicken?

AL GORE: I invented the chicken!

JOHN MCCAIN: I guess everyone had a pretty good time when the chicken crossed the road. I'm sure it was a cultural and pharmaceutical event. I was tied up at the time.

JOHN EDWARDS: The chicken wants to cross the road, but the special interests on the other side of the road are determined not to let him. They want to rob the chicken of his dream of a simple middle-class life, but I'm going to fight the special interests. I'm going to take them on, because I identify with the common chicken. Just give me a minute.

BARAK OBAMA: I'm sure, if we all just work together, that we can, as a people, help the chicken cross the road. It's time to end the cynical politics of the past that says chickens should stay on their side of the road. It's time to take a principled stand for what we believe.

RUDY GUILIANI: On 9/11 I was well aware of a lot of chickens wanting to cross the road, and because of my steadfast leadership, those chickens were able to cross the road safely. And at Ground Zero, which I visited, you know, a bunch of times, in between attending Yankees games, I continued to provide the leadership to allow the chickens to cross the road. (I just didn't tell my then-present wife about it.)

DENNIS KUCINICH: They just want you to believe the chicken wants to cross the road. I know in fact that there is no chicken. But a UFO abducted it, if there was a chicken, that is.

BILL GATES: I have just released eChicken2007, the idea for which I stole from Apple. It will not only cross roads, but will lay eggs, file your important documents, and balance your checkbook. Internet Explorer is an integral part of eChicken. This new platform is much more stable and will never cra... (Unknown Error 231)

COLONEL SANDERS: Did I miss one?

Will's thoughts on 2007

Today is January 1st, the first day of a new year when we usually look back at the previous year and make resolutions for the year ahead of us. For me, this past year had been amazing, I am not just saying that, this past year for me really has been the type of year you look back on and go, yeah things have changed. B)

When I think about it, my mindset is so different than it was last January it is actually a little freaky. I had planned to do a "year in review" post and talk about stuff that happened each month but after thinking it through I realized I could write a multiple page editorial and it still probably would not cover all I would like to say...I also figured people don't really want to read that much about my year anyway. :p So how about the cliff notes version?

In January, my friend Daniel and I decided to go on a road trip up the east coast in June. It is something I had wanted to do for several years but never actually planned out. It actually took less planning than I thought it would and by March we had every detail planned out, even where we would eat in some places.

Sometime in April or May I am not sure when or how exactly it happened but I decided I would spend more time praying and reading the Bible and make my relationship with God more of a focus. Not that it was not before, but I was having lunch with a friend and it occurred to me that even though I was not really thinking about marriage, if it were to happen I did not feel as capable to lead a family spiritually as I felt I should be. So that really became something I wanted to focus on.

June rolled around and Daniel and I embarked on our magnificent road trip. DC to Philly to New York City to some little town in PA to Niagara Falls and back home. The trip was a blast, we did everything we had planned in DC and more. Philadelphia was not a main leg of the trip and due to somethings out of our control we were unable to do all we wanted but I did get an incredible Philly cheese steak sandwich. :D New York City was for me the best part of the trip.

If you don't like crowds New York might not be the best place to go but since I have no problem with crowds I thought it was awesome. Even at 1am the city was still at a frantic pace. We ended up leaving before we finished everything we wanted to get done because we unfortunately had some bad weather, that was the only bad thing about the trip, the limited time we had in NYC. I honestly could have spent the whole trip just in NYC.

After a stop in PA to visit some of Daniel's friends because my friends were not home, we headed to Niagara Falls for some unknown reason....I had been to Niagara Falls when I was like 8 or so and I remember being sorta bored. I guess I figured since I was older it would be more fun....heh Well it was more fun but still not quite as exciting as I had hoped. We did say in Canada though which was cool. After eight days of traveling we headed home....Planning the trip really helped cut down on the cost. We stayed in 2 star or higher hotels every night, ate meals at sit down places not McDonalds and their dollar menu and since we had my car, got great gas mileage. The total cost for both of us covering food, gas, hotels and sites (cough, Statue of Liberty = $15!!) was only $970 which divided by both of us equaled a pretty good deal at least IMO. That is a very brief overview of the trip, most people who know me have already heard most of the details of the trip anyway. :p

When I got back from the trip I decided I had some priorities that needed to change and along with them my whole mindset on life shifted somewhat. I doubt anyone except maybe my family really noticed. A change in the way you think about the world and life in general is not as noticeable as say gaining 30lbs of muscle. :p Anyway because my mindset had changed as well as my relationship with God due to spending more time in the Word, I started working on the "William Manifesto" Sound cool eh? ;)

It really is just my philosophy on everything, life, music, God, culture, society in general....Some of it has made it on the blog, if you have talked to me, you have probably heard more of it than maybe you even want to hear. :p Most of has been in my head for a while but I have found that typing it out has enabled me to really focus on why I believe the way I do. Still much a work in progress it has nevertheless really helped me grow as a person at least in the terms of how I think about things and my ability to explain what I believe.

I know this post is getting longer, just think we might still be on January if this was the non "cliff note" version. In August we had the first of three visits with our great friends up in New York, and Sarah and I also started this blog. Most of the things that have happened since are documented on here and you probably know them already. If you are a new reader and want to read pages upon pages of the things that have happened since August, feel free to check out the archives in the side bar on the right ;)

There are somethings not on the blog that I have not mentioned, one of them is in September I started thinking about changing jobs. For the past several years I have been the office manager for a residential development company. The pay was rather lousy but I was learning the business as well as patience (this is a story in itself, suffice to say I sometimes feel like I could give Job a run for his money in terms of patience.)

Because of my changed mindset on what I needed to be doing with my life as well as some other things, I started praying about what I should do and where I should go job wise. I am sure everyone remembers my apartment bought cheap, fixed up and currently for sale though someone is very interested in purchasing it. Well going through that process made me realized fixing up houses and selling them is something I really like. There is a lot more I would like to know construction wise though so in a few days I start classes with that purpose in mind.

Looking forward to 2008, there is so much I want to get accomplished, it is a good thing I had a job that worked on my patience because now every bit of it will probably be put to work. Without that or my trust in the Lord, that He is there to guide me through it all, I might be dreading this upcoming year. As it is I am really excited about 2008! :D

Sidebar on the blog, I want to thank all the many people who visit, as well as the few who visit and actually comment for taking the time to read Life from the Toaster. I never thought we would have half as many visitors as we have had. While most visitors don't comment, the fact that we have a significant number of visitors a day has been pretty awesome, it shows people actually feel the blog is worth reading, (or maybe they just like laughing at us :p ) Either way thanks for visiting and reading. Oh one more note!

The 500th comment! The 500th comment actually occurred while Sarah and I were in NY in December.....It was actually my sister :p I don't think I mentioned this on the blog but family was not eligible to win. Since comments 499 and 501 were by the two people who have commented the most since the blog started (Abigail and Sleepy Joy) I decided just to give them both a CD. Just thought I would mention that if anyone was wondering.....

The real final note, :p some readers already know this but, because of my changing job situation as well as some other things I feel I should be devoting time to, the blog is going to be updated less frequently than it has been. I know that is rather sad, and I wish I could continue to post as much but I just don't see how I will have the time. Hopefully Sarah can pick up some slack and Anna probably will post some as well. I pray everyone will accomplish the goals they have for this coming year and that y'all will have an incredible 2008. :)