F-221 becomes the Tabernacle

We had the children assemble themselves into the outline and furniture of the Tabernacle. This was part of our review day for the end of Exodus. What a joy to be with them every week.

Campfire

C1 enjoys the fire after dinner. The camp next to ours is a Heather has 2 mommies type.

Non-Service Station

I stopped for gas this morning and was treated to yet another downgrade in service and convenience. First you could pay at the pump and it was good. Then you could pay at the pump IF you entered your ZIP code, it was less good. Now for even more fun, you may pay at the pump with you credit card IF you enter your ZIP code, and IF you want less than 35 dollars worth of gas.

With gas at $3.40 a gallon and most cars holding at least 11 gallons, this will force most people inside to make their purchase, or put in less than 35 dollars, put the hose back, and make a second purchase.

Customers first at Texaco. I'll go somewhere else for gas.

Lettuce Origami

The Pie N Burger also folds the lettuce so it fits cleanly under the bun. A lost art to be sure. They take extra care in putting the food together.

Today we broke with tradition and got pie too!

Pie N Burger

The greater Los Angeles area has many great places to get a burger. The Pie N Burger in Pasadena is one of the best (the other is Apple Pan on the West Side). Both have burgers and pie. The Pie N Burger has a bit more space, and the counter help give you more time to order. Just remember, dispite the name you must choose: pie or burger. The burgers are too big to also have pie. If you are in Pasadena and you're hungry stop in, near the corner of Lake and California.

Love the weather hate the eLaws

California has these great eLaws - you cannot toss old computers into the trash. You must arrange for special pick up. We had 40 monitors, 2 pallets. California has an eTax that you pay on computer you purchase, but you still must pay to recycle.

So Cal Living

Another beautiful day. Clear sunny, light winds, and 90 f. Fire season will start soon bringing smoke to otherwise beautiful skies.

Don't Play With Your Food

For dinner tonight Kerry made the boys octodogs with mac'n'cheese. They had fun eating. This may be the only octo-anything Coop may ever eat. For dessert we had some apple sauce (made from Granny Smith apples) the Star Wars junkies asked if we could call it 'Granny Sith'.

Store Death

All the department stores in CA are all owned by Federated. They are beginning to consolidate their operations, so many stores are closing down. At the Northridge mall the Robinson's-May (which resulted from a previous colsolidation) is closing down.

They were selling the fixtures, so we bought some - for GTY.

It was odd to be in such a large store with nothing, and no one in it.

Cooper and the General

Metella and Grandpa were on vacation this week, so we got to take care of the General. Coop loves to sit with him and pet him. I think Cooper will miss him more than Campbell when he goes home.

The General can be annoying at times, so much so that we call him 'General Nuisance'. This week he has been good and fun. He has us thinking about getting a dog.

What Not to Wear

This man came into the place we were having lunch today. When he entered most people stopped talking and dropped their lunch and jaws.

Besides his shorts being too short and too tight, his hair was wild like a lion's mane, but too many colors. He also had a way of moving that was almost unnatural, which might have been caused by his hideous Ugg boots. He was not dressed for success - or eating out.

Mmmm Chocolate

While wandering around after dinner we found this dessert shop with tons of snacks - including this eye catching chocolate-fall that has 3 kinds of chocolate, 24 feet of vertical movement, 2 tons of chocolate and 157 billion Weight Watcher points.

TLAs and Beyond

I'm used to seeing and using TLAs; but this conference has more of the alphabet in use than any I've seen. At one booth a presenter was spewing what seemed like random letters for more than 5 min. There would be the odd connecting word or adjective, but it was mostly letters, "Our HDTV has HDMI with H.234 and IPTV. You'll love the 1080p and 2k in full HD .... " Or something like that.

Here are the ones I've spotted in the past few days - how many do you know:
HD, HDV, HDMI, 2k, 4K, SAIT-2, HD-SDI, HDD VD, NLE, 180i, 180p, SD-SDI, NTSC, PAL, VBS, RGB 4:4:4, XLR-BMP, 10 bit 4:2:2, 24F, 24p, VTR, RS422, BD-ROM, DVB-S/2, IP QoS, PVR, DVR, VOD, STB, IPTV, DRM, OMA, VOD, DVB-2, DVB-H, S-DBM, T-DBM, 1080p, 2540p, 1020p, 720p, 1080i, ASI, SDTV, JPEG2000, MPEG-2, MPEG-4, H.264, MPEG-4 AVC, PIP, DVB-S2, MPTS, QPSK, SATA II, RAID, J2EE, DTV, EIA-608B, NTSC, PAL, 292M, VANC, ISAN, VC-1, Ad-ID, VoD, DLP, SXGA+.

TTFN

What would we do?

Here is a job that everyone would miss if the non-native community did not do this job that Americans will not do - smut vendor. In this convention city every corner has people who slap, snap, and wave smut related papers at all who pass by them. All the SVs I've seen have been possible non-docs of Latin American extraction. Where are the Americans for these jobs? What will happen on May 1st? Will no one slap the papers at tourists?

Odd Jobs

I sure hope it pays well. This is a job that could go either way - you may or may not be able to find an American willing to do it.

I think he could be a legal/illegal Russian documented/undocumented worker, what with the red suit and all.

The Jobs Americans Won't Do Part 1

We are on the bus on the way to the conference when I spot 2 guys in a hole working. What's odd is they are telling the equipment driver to dump the dirt into the hole while they are inside. We watch as the dirt drops around them - rocks bounce into their faces. The only safety equipment they have are hard hats, no eye protection. If they do this all day it will not end well. They will likely say, "We never saw that coming."

OSHA would have a field day writing fines. The truck as it is moving around, rammed into the metal brace that is keeping the hole from filling itself.

This looks like one job that will not be done on 1 May.

Big Show

One part of my job that I love is I get to see lots of technology. This show is focused on all kinds of broadcasting and related technologies. This is the second helicopter I've seen inside today. You can smell the fuel. I wonder where you get a permit to being one inside. This show is more male skewed than any I've ever seen.

Westfield - yuch

How do I hate Westfield? Let me count the ways. Today we went to the mall so Kerry could get some new shoes. She is trying to compete with Mrs Marcos - she wants 3 pair today. I keep reminding her that she only has 2 feet. Anyway back to my Westfield rant.

They have continued their uglificaton of the mall, this time by covering every available flat space with ads. What's next? I think they will have people carrying ads. Wait ... They do that; balloons with ads for the kids, how sweet.

Awana Grand Prix

Nothing makes dads more anxious than the Pinewood Derby. The boys each helped with the design. Campbell wanted a shark and Cooper wanted a whale.

Campbell came in second in his 1st heat, first in the 2nd, and 3rd in the 3rd. He had a great time. Cooper was way out in the lead - several feet, when 2 feet from the finish his rear wheel popped off. He was not too sad - he was able to race again after some repairs.

The axel design was changed this year from a two piece, to a single. It was much harder to work with than last year.

I make the boys do as much as they are able - they do the sanding, painting, and decoration.

Too cool

We had a field trip today to see the plane that served as Reagan's Air Force One. Amazing time. We ahad a great docent who took 2 hours to tour us around.

The trip home had us crawling in LA rain traffic.