Going Rogue

My brother, Marshall, and I went to Costco yesterday to take part in Sarah Palin’s book signing.  She’s promoting her book Going Rogue: An American Life. The news cameras happened to film us as we shook her hand. Okay, so it’s only a view of our backs, but it’s something.

Here’s a link to the news footage.

Will Work for Food

“Hello…hello…hello…is there anybody out there?”

It’s just me, friendly Douglas, coming at you through cyberspace’s nebulous communication channels. To those whose eyes fall upon these words: I need a job, preferably IT-related, but I’ll take anything that suits my family and I. I’m a good worker; honest, I am.

Anybody hiring?

A+ Certified, Again

On Friday I passed the A+ 220-602 (IT Technician) exam which completes WGU’s IT Fundamentals III course. So now I’m an A+ certified technician for the second time. The first time was in 1994, as I explained in a previous blog entry.

Sayonara Silver

It’s official. I’ve been laid off and am now unemployed. The silver refinery I’ve been with for the last 13 1/2 years has closed its doors. Actually, the whole thing was official last Friday, but I call today the official day because I just received my severance check in the mail. That check seems to carry with it a sense of finality. And so, the job hunt has begun and must soon begin in earnest.

Making Progress

Well, I’ve completed my first three courses (Education Without Boundaries, IT Fundamentals I, and IT Fundamentals II) at Western Governor’s University. Along with the last two courses, I passed two computer industry exams (CIW v5 Associate and CompTIA A+ Essentials). I hopefully will finish my fourth course (IT Fundamentals III) tomorrow by passing the CompTIA A+ Technician exam. I’m already an A+ certified computer technician, but my certification is 15 years old, so WGU said I had to redo it. Following tomorrow’s exam (assuming I pass), I’ll have one more class for this semester (a JavaScript class). Since WGU allows students to accelerate their studies, if I get through this JavaScript course in a timely fashion then I may add one more course to this semester’s load.

Spotz Has a New Home

‘Tis a great day. Our former dog, Spotz, who was returned a few weeks ago to the adoption clinic from whence he came, has found a new home. Not just any home either. From the sounds of it, it appears his new owners will be very caring indeed. He’ll be going to an active family, which is exactly what he needs. One member of his new family is a woman who runs 10 miles every morning, and she’ll be taking Spotz along with her on these excursions. Spotz’s new family tried him out for a week before deciding to keep him, so they’ve had a good amount of time to determine whether he’s a good fit for them.

My family and I are quite pleased with this news. I just hope it turns out to be great for Spotz in the long run, and it seems as though it will. We miss him, but we want what’s best for him, and he needs constant activity and attention. Such thorough care was very difficult for us to maintain. Jeanine was working her tail off with Spotz, but even her godly efforts weren’t quite enough for this particular K-9.

Really Likin' WGU

I started my Information Technology program at Western Governors University on September 1st. So far, I'm diggin' it thoroughly. Online learning is wonderful.

 

All students begin their studies at WGU by working their way through the first required course which is called Education Without Boundaries, or EWB. EWB is essentially an introduction or orientation to the way WGU works. It comprises a series of modules that one has to complete, one by one, until finished. Presently, I'm more than half way through EWB. I'm on module 6. There are a total of 8 EWB modules and then a conclusion. So far, so good.

 

Once EWB's out of the way, I'll have a telephone chat with my mentor (David Brinkerhoff). During our conversation, we will formulate my Academic Action Plan (AAP) which is a blueprint of all the courses, assessments, dates, etc., that are required for my chosen path. I'm looking forward to it.

 

With my computer background and prior experience, I believe parts of this program will be quite easy. Still, there will plenty of material which will be rigorous, I have no doubt. Also, because I transfered my Associate's degree to WGU, all of WGU's liberal arts requirements have already been met. All except for one class that is. There's a class called College-level Reasoning and Problem Solving which is apparently considered a liberal arts course that I have to take. It's my understanding that there really isn't any class that can transfer to WGU which will allow a waiver of College-level Reasoning and Problem Solving. Oh well, not a big deal.

 

Because of the course requirements that have already been met due to my A.S. degree, I'm hoping the program won't take me longer than eighteen months to two years to complete. Right now, I've declared IT as my major, but I'm thinking I want to specialize, either in Databases, or Software development. Adding one of these emphases will tack on another semester's worth of work, so to finish any sooner than two years would be tough.

Phil's Funeral

I attended Phil Nielsen's funeral on Monday. It was a very good service. It made me wish I'd known him even better than I did. Phil's brother, Mark, read the obituary. Another brother, Tim, gave an excellent talk, as did a cousin. His sister read one of Phil's last journal entries (if not the very last) which was written just a few days before the tragic auto accident. In that entry Phil wrote that he was very excited to start school at Salt Lake Community College. He mentioned how his life was now getting back on track, that he'd been in a rut for a long time, but now his fire to accomplish things was rekindled. He mentioned never having been as excited about things as he was now.

 

Really do miss you, Phil. Work hasn't been the same.

Farewell, Good Man

A friend of mine from work, Phil Nielsen, died in a tragic automobile accident the other day. He'll truly be missed. He was a terrific guy, and the two of us shared an interest in the same kinds of books. Work won't be as enjoyable anymore without him there to discuss the works of George R. R. Martin, Terry Goodkind, Terry Brooks, and others. I pray he's now in a realm of peace.

 

Link to his obituary: http://www.legacy.com/SaltLakeTribune/Obituaries.asp?page=lifestory&personid=132057105

WGU, Here I Come!

I'm getting stoked about starting my B. S. degree program in Information Technology at Western Governors University (www.wgu.edu). I begin this coming Tuesday, September 1st.

Greener Pastures?

Spotz is no longer with us. No, he didn't die, but he doesn't live with us anymore, and he's been gone since Friday. Wherever he ends up, I hope it means greener pastures.

Gardens of the Moon ain’t no Game of Thrones

Well, I finished reading Gardens of the Moon by Steven Erikson. It was okay, but not mind-blowingly great. Some have compared it to George R. R. Martin’s books, but sorry, I don’t see it. Perhaps the other books in Erikson’s series are better than the first, and maybe I’ll get to them someday. But I’m in no hurry. I’m just patiently waiting for Martin’s A Dance With Dragons to come out. Sadly, I don’t think he’s even finished writing it yet. Come on, George! Jeez! It’s been four years since the last book in Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire series came out, and I’m getting nervous that this amazing magnum opus of his will never completely come to fruition.

Happy Easter, New Do-it-Yourself Family Photo

From left to right, bottom row: Alina, Davis, Freeman.

From left to right, top row: Benjamin, Jeanine, Myself.

 

 

 

 

Happy Easter everyone! This is a beautiful time of the year when we celebrate the renewal of life and all things grand and wonderful. And, of course, this is when we give special attention to the greatest event to ever occur in all of history—the resurrection of the Lord, Jesus Christ. He was the first fruits of those that slept, and because of His coming forth from the dead, all shall one day rise again. What a glorious gift from a wise and loving God! The promise is sure, as found in 1 Corinthians 15:22, “For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.”

Gardens of the Moon

I heard someone say that The Malazan Book of the Fallen series by Steven Erikson is as good as George R. R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire series. I seriously doubt it, but I’ll give it a whirl. I’ll start with book one (that sounds logical), Gardens of the Moon.

Draper, Utah Temple Dedication

My son, Benjamin, and I were able to attend the Draper, Utah temple dedication yesterday at the stake center. It was a very nice ceremony. The Spirit of the Lord was present, and it was marvelous to see yet another temple put into operation. Unless I’m mistaken, the Draper temple brings the total number of operating temples worldwide to 129.

It’s so amazing to witness the prophecies of the gospel’s restoration come to pass. One such interesting prophecy made by Joseph Smith in the 19th century was uttered to a small group of Priesthood brethren when the restored church was merely a fledgling entity. Said Joseph, “Brethren, I have been very much edified and instructed in your testimonies here tonight, but I want to say to you before the Lord, that you know no more concerning the destinies of this Church and kingdom than a babe upon its mother's lap. You don't comprehend it. It is only a little handful of Priesthood you see here tonight, but this Church will fill North and South America; it will fill the world.”

The Blessings of the Temple (Video on YouTube).

Davis’s Baptism

On February 26th we celebrated Davis’s 8th birthday. Hurrah! He enjoyed his special day, and he was glad to receive a GameBoy Advance SP along with a couple of games to go with it. His birthday cake was rather interesting. Jeanine made it in the likeness of a cow as per Davis’s desire (for some strange reason Davis has an affinity for cows of late). After we enjoyed a dinner of Papa John’s pizza, Davis’s grandparents came over to enjoy some snacks and some ice cream and cow cake. From them, Davis received one of life’s most sought after items—money!

Two days after his birthday, Davis got baptized by yours truly. He is now a full-fledged member of Christ’s church. The event went well, and the Spirit of the Lord was felt. At the service, Benjamin gave a talk about the Holy Ghost, and Jeanine was asked by the bishop to bear her testimony, which of course, she did. Acting as witnesses to the baptismal ordinance were Jeanine’s dad and my brother-in-law, Blair. Those who stood in the circle during Davis’s confirmation were Blair; my brother, Curt; my nephew-in-law, Derk; Jeanine’s dad; and Bishop Moyes. I had the privilege and pleasure of performing the confirmation.

Here are a few photos from the baptism:

Drum Solo

Here’s an old video of me self-indulgently performing a drum solo. It’s been almost two decades since this was filmed. At the time I was playing in a band called Standard Deviation. This particular gig took place in the Olpin Union Ballroom at the University of Utah.

Drum solo on YouTube.

Spotz Keeps on Growing

This little K-9 isn’t so little anymore. Spotz is growing like wildfire. At this rate, he’s going to be the size of a St. Bernard! When we first got him (back in December of ‘08), we were told he is part Border Collie. What the other parts of him are, we don’t know. Perhaps he does have St. Bernard blood. If so, he’s going to be a force to be reckoned with! To his credit though, he’s very smart and mostly obedient.

Just BASIC and Liberty BASIC

Just BASIC is a Windows programming language. It’s a fun way to make your own custom Windows applications. For those that are new to the BASIC programming language, this version comes with an easy-to-use tutorial. BASIC is an acronym which stands for Beginners All-purpose Symbolic Instruction Code. Even though Just BASIC is a watered-down version of Liberty BASIC, it still has plenty of features for most needs. Cool stuff. And it’s FREE!

Here are a few reasons to try out Just BASIC (this list comes from the Just BASIC home page):

• Free to download and use!
• Create standalone Windows programs royalty free
• Full tutorial and many example programs
• Large online community
• Syntax coloring editor
• Easy debugging
• Graphics, including sprites and printing

Davis’s Missing Tooth

Davis lost one of his front teeth today. He’s proud of that fact.

I love the way he’s working that tongue into the empty socket. It really emphasizes the gap left by the missing tooth.

EASEUS Partition Manager 3.0

I just finished running the Windows XP Recovery Console to fix my system's master boot record. I did this by running "fixmbr" within the Recovery Console. Formerly, I had a duel boot system (Windows XP and Linux) using the GRUB loader. Fixmbr worked great. Now my computer boots straight to Windows. I next used EASEUS Partition Manager 3.0 to resize the partition for drive C: so that I could recover the space that Linux was occupying. It seems to have worked well.

jQuery

I’ve been looking into jQuery and Ajax technologies in general of late. Impressive stuff. jQuery certainly reduces JavaScript coding time, especially if you’re dealing with loads of event handling or animation routines.

Check out the jQuery tutorials.

Walking with Dinosaurs

Yesterday, my mom took my family and I to the spectacular production Walking with Dinosaurs. It’s amazing to think of how much work must have gone into this show.

My wife took a few pictures during the performance. Lighting conditions were poor, so the photo quality is understandably compromised.

 
Here’s a brachiosaurus chowing down on an inflatable tree.

 

This photo is of the show’s narrator. That big brown ball in front of him is a spherical clump of artificial dino dung.

 

Ah yes, the fearsome star of the show—T-Rex.

 

Grandma, Benjamin, Freeman, Davis, and Alina standing in front of a Walking with Dinosaurs trailer.

 

 
My wife Jeanine, myself, Benjamin, Freeman, Davis, and Alina about to be consumed by the Tyrant King.

 

One of the seven tickets which allowed us access to the dino show.

So Long Aspens

My mom had the aspens in her yard taken out today. They resided in that ground for many years. Aspen are beautiful trees, but they are a nuisance. They’re a lot like troublesome weeds, and they send out runners all over the place. And even though they’re nice to look at (especially in the fall when their leaves turn a stunning yellow), I don’t blame her one bit for getting rid of them. I’ve got a few aspens in my yard as well which I’d like to have removed.

At the Moment

This is just an at-the-moment update to fill you in on what each person in my family is doing right now. I, of course, am preparing this entry. My wife is at the store buying some “fluff” for the bottom of her snake cage (she has an albino corn snake named Ruby – I’ll try to remember to post a photo of Ruby). And here is what my four awesome kids are up to:

My daughter and youngest child, Alina, is watching one of her favorite animated shows, Disney’s Hercules.	Davis and Freeman, the two middle kids, are studiously performing their academic duties.
Benjamin, the oldest of the bunch, is resting his sore neck. He’s had a nasty kink in it lately, and it’s been giving him fits. The poor guy.	And just as a side note, I had a couple of these Kashi GOLEAN protein and fiber bars yesterday. I’ll most likely have one or two more today. They’re quite tasty. Though, perhaps I shouldn’t use the word “tasty.” My wife doesn’t like that word for some reason.

Time to Get Back on Track

It’s time for me to get back on track with my fitness regimen. The recent holiday season threw me off a little. Of course, I can’t rightly blame the holidays when it’s my own dang fault, but the holidays certainly didn’t make it very easy. So, it’s time to realign myself with the ways of proper diet and a six-days-a-week exercise routine.

Majora’s Mask

My son, Benjamin, is in the living room playing a classic video game – The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask. His three younger siblings are sitting on the couch watching the virtual event.

Not only is Majora's Mask a classic, but the machine on which Benjamin’s playing the game is truly a classic as well. Ah, yes, the legendary Nintendo 64. He received the 64 this past Christmas. That’s what he wanted, and that’s what he got. We already own a GameCube and a Wii, but for some reason he had to have the old 64. He really likes a lot of those old retro games.

Spotz the Biter

This guy sure likes to bite. He’ll grow out of it, I hope.

His legs are wrapped because not only did he just get neutered, he also had his dewclaws removed.

There he goes, biting the hand that feeds.

Temple of Fitness

Here are a few photos of the recreation center (which I occasionally refer to as the Temple of Fitness) where I’ve been going since May of last year for training and humbling. The place has treated me well. Since I started going there, I’ve lost thirty-some-odd pounds.

A view of the recreation center from the north side.	A view of the recreation center from the north side at night.
One of the many lockers (and my lock) I use at the recreation center.	Some of my possessions inside a recreation center locker.

Care for an Orange?

Alina’s Herb Tea

Here’s a shot I took the other day of my daughter, Alina, pondering over a cup of herb tea.

Robin B Hood

My wife and eldest son and I watched Robin B Hood last night and into the wee hours of this morning. My son and I were able to watch until the bittersweet end, but my wife reached her alertness limit before the movie ended and had to crash for the night.

This movie stars Jackie Chan. It's not a terrible flick, but it's not great either. It's easily a half an hour too long, but even so, I'll give it 3 Chinese throwing stars out of five, and here's why:

• This movie has a cute girl wearing a big yellow chicken suit.
• There are loads of funky Chinese automobiles cruising around.
• Lots of poopy diapers and a scene featuring a poopy baby butt.
• This film has the proverbial and laughable dubs disease.
• Jackie Chan jumping down from a building, from one air conditioner to another.
• Jackie Chan acting the part of a burglar.
• Chan's character getting royally chewed out by his father.
• Chunks of sweet martial arts action.
• And lastly, this movie made me question Jackie Chan's sexual orientation (please be straight, Jackie, please.)

See this movie if you're a Chan fan, if you're in the mood for a quirky laugh, or if you just don't have anything better to do.

Angels Explained By Children

Here's a cute e-mail I received from my father-in-law...

I only know the names of two angels, Hark and Harold. --Gregory, 5

Everybody's got it all wrong. Angels don't wear halos anymore. I forget why, but scientists are working on it. --Olive, 9

It's not easy to become an angel! First, you die. Then you go to Heaven, and then there's still the flight training to go through. And then you got to agree to wear those angel clothes. --Matthew, 9

Angels work for God and watch over kids when God has to go do something else. --Mitchell, 7

My guardian angel helps me with math, but he's not much good for science. --Henry, 8

Angels don't eat, but they drink milk from Holy Cows!!! --Jack, 6

Angels talk all the way while they're flying you up to heaven. The main subject is where you went wrong before you got dead. --Daniel, 9

When an angel gets mad, he takes a deep breath and counts to ten. And when he lets out his breath, somewhere there's a tornado. --Reagan, 10

Angels have a lot to do and they keep very busy. If you lose a tooth, an angel comes in through your window and leaves money under your pillow. Then when it gets cold, angels go south for the winter. --Sara, 6

Angels live in cloud houses made by God and his son, who's a very good carpenter. --Jared, 8

All angels are girls because they gotta wear dresses and boys didn't go for it. --Antonio, 9

My angel is my grandma who died last year. She got a big head start on helping me while she was still down here on earth. --? , 9

Some of the angels are in charge of helping heal sick animals and pets. And if they don't make the animals get better, they help the child get over it. --Vicki, 8

What I don't get about angels is why, when someone is in love, they shoot arrows at them. --Sarah, 7