Word Association for August 29th

This will be fast since I'm due back at church in 15 minutes. But it never takes too long to do the word association.

1. GAME BOY:: Advanced
2. Biopsy:: Cancer
3. Attack:: War
4. Convention:: Presidential
5. Jewels:: Diamonds
6. Genetics:: DNA
7. Impostor:: Di's first uncle
8. Doug:: Dig
9. Arbitrary:: Random
10. Oscillate:: Fan

Told ya it wouldn't take long.

Must go now.

Bye!

Back to Normal

Yes, I am normal. End of debate. (Remember, Matt, I have the power to edit your comments on my blog, so there!)

Yes, that was to a friend of mine, why do you ask?

And speaking of power on internet, I forgot to mention that I am now a moderator on a board. My mystery/thriller forum on Delphi. I'm quite honored and not at all drunk with power like some internet mods I could name. (Cough Matt Cough).

But back to the intent of my title. I feel fine. Yesterday, I felt tired, but today I feel great. I think I've licked this stupid virus and am back to normal. I intend to take it easy this weekend, but by the end, I should be going stir crazy from being in my apartment all the time.

Of course, I have hours of Olympics to watch. Probably fast forward through most of it and just watch the diving. That's what I'm most looking forward to that's left.

Speaking of the Olympics, one of the professors at the Seminary has a daughter that won the silver in the 200m track event. Don't know her, just know his name, but that's my brush with fame this time around and pretty cool if you ask me.

My refinance is going well. It appraised exactly where I thought it would and the paperwork is happening. Not much for me to do right now but wait.

Since I wasn't at practice Sunday, I didn't play last night. And the guys did just fine leading worship without me. I knew they would, but it was nice to see it happen. And Jon praised them in front of everyone, too. No, I don't feel treatened (they were asking me if I'd be back next week), and it's nice knowing that things don't always fall apart if I'm gone. Actually takes some pressure off. And the goal of them playing with me is to increase their abilities so they can lead worship. Seems like it's working.

I'm taking a class this semester. Colonial and Revolutionary American History. I love US history, and since I can take two classes a semester free, thought I'd take advantage of it. Will need to read the books, take the tests, and write a 5-7 page paper, plus attend the 8 AM class. That's the part that scares me the most. I mean, I'm often not here until 9 when I'm supposed to be here at 8:30. But I'm jazzed about it. Think it will be great. If I can keep up with the prof. Man, I was taking notes fast and furious all hour.

This does of course mean I will get off work half an hour later when I have class. But I think this will be fun. And will need to cut back on TV slightly and pleasure reading, but it's worth it.

And I'm officially off now. So it's time for dinner! And my first dinner with my friends since they all got back and started classes.

Thursday Threesome for August 26th

Yes, I'm back at work today. I'm tired, but I'm here. Think I'm over that sickness nonsense.

But the real reason for today's post is the Thursday Threesome, brought to us this week by Fall weather and The Back Porch.

Onesome: Cool-- Well, summer is almost gone (except for those Down Under who are expecting it soon), and the cooler weather is coming. ...and other than those who live in places like Hawai'i, things are about to change. Which do you prefer, the coolness of Winter where you live or the warmth of your Summer?
Warmth of summer no question. And I'm rather sad that we only had one really hot week this year. I want my summer!

Twosome: Blue-- Today's softball: blue or green? Pick one! ...okay, if it's a tie (high or low), what color do you prefer for decorating or accents?
Green! I've always loved green and think I always will.

Threesome: Mornings-- Mornings, afternoons, evenings, nights... What's your favorite time of day? ...and what makes it so for you?
Twilight either direction. I like watching the light come or go from the sky. Ok, so I usually only see the light do at dusk, but the few times I've watched the sun come up and been neat as well.

I've Been Sick

So Sunday afternoon, I started feeling lousy. Took my tempurature, and sure enough, 100.1 degrees. Since then I haven't been into work.

Basically, my tempurature stayed in that range through Monday, then dropped into the 99 degree range with drops down to normal. I was actually going to go back to work today, but I didn't go to sleep until after 5 AM inspite of going to bed plenty before that. And my temp was back up to 99.5 at 2:30 AM.

Went to the doctor today just in case. After all, my symptoms (fever, headache, sore neck) do sound like West Nile. Naturally, I was the best I'd felt since Sunday when I went to see her. :) She seems to think that I've got an ordinary virus and am on the mend. Frankly, I've been feeling better since I got back. Think I'm going to try to go to bed early tonight and possibly go to work tomorrow.

So what was I up to before I got sick?

I forgot to mention that last week the plumbers came back and actually seemed to have fixed the shower this time. The guy who came the first time only did half the job, which is why it broke again so soon.

Saturday, Matt came over and hung out all day. (No, not that Matt, the other one!) We watched Olympics and Finding Nemo.

Monday, the appraiser came, so my refinance is rolling right along.

And, thanks to marathon reading sessions, I've managed to finish The Black Jacket Mystery. Great Trixie book! And now I've finally started Permed to Death. I've only had the book three and a half years. Why rush into things?

Word Association for August 22nd

What, you were expecting a regular post? :) Found here.

1. Olympics:: Diving and Ice Skating
2. Wicked:: Musical
3. Intoxicating:: Power
4. Radical:: Odd
5. Misinformed:: Wrong
6. Triplets:: Identical
7. Coronation:: King
8. Asimov:: Sci-Fi
9. Contemporary:: Literature
10. 1:: 2

Good Couple of Days

Ok, my post from Wednesday was written while I was in momentary panic mode. I had committed to the refinance and couldn't back out. A couple hours later, I was feeling great and was very excited about it.

And things are progressing well in that reguard. I've got the paperwork into them and the appraisal is scheduled for Monday night. Things are flowing nicely.

Last night, Mindy was back at youth group. It was wonderful having another singer up there, especially one doing the female part.

The last night I got to hang out with Matt and Matt and Anne. We met up at Denny's for desert. Met Matt's sister Stephanie. (No, not that Matt, the other Matt.) I haven't laughed that hard in a long time. Greatly enjoyed it.

Then today had lunch with Matt, Stephanie, Anne, and John, who was in town to pick up Matt. Again, great time.

I'm actually excited about summer being over and having my friends who are students back in town. What's gotten into me?

And I committed today. I'm signing up for a class this semester. US Colonial and Revolutionary history. One of my favorite time periods. Class starts next Friday. This means I'm going to have to be on campus at 8 AM on MWF. There are days I can't make it by 9. This should be interesting.

Thursday Threesome for August 19

Brought to us this week by Bartlet's Familiar Quotes (almost) and The Back Porch.

Onesome:Desperate times-- Hmmm... The ever present time crunch. Do you have a story of a time when you needed to be somewhere and it just didn't look like it was going to work out? Did you make it? No??? What happened?
Every day of my life trying to get to work? Sometimes I make it, sometimes I don't. And there was the job interview where the exit was labeled different from the direction I was going. I was only an hour and a half late. Needless to say, I didn't get that job. :)

Twosome: lead to-- What leads you to write at your place? What strikes your fancy and leads you to your keyboard to share it with the blogosphere?
Maybe I'm a bit different in that reguard, but I tend to make one post a day. It would have to be something that couldn't wait for me to make two posts in a day. But since my life is pretty much boring, I don't feel the need to come here for a late breaking bulletin.

Threesome: disparate measures-- Hey, what is it you do that's really different from your friends or family or acquaintances that drives them to distraction? Is it something as simple as the way you put the toilet paper roll on? ...or maybe your habit of eating all your vegetables first? Come on, you know there's a little something it's safe to share with the gang!
Well, let's see. I am the only person who puts the toliet paper on correctly. Yes, the rest of the world is wrong. :) There's my love of kid's books and movies which my roommates don't get. My family doesn't get why I like my hair short. So basically, everything I do, I guess. :)

I HATE Making Decisions

So, when I bought my condo I got an adjustable rate mortgage and a second mortgage hoping to refinance in a year and combine the two and lock in the interest rate.

I've been looking at this off and on all summer, but started acting on it last week. Still not doing much and thinking I might not actually do it.

But yesterday, I decided to check out lendingtree.com and see what they could come up with. I got four very similar offers, with very good interest rates. Turns out rates when down about two weeks ago. Perfect timing if I do say so myself. The problem with these was the fees. Then I checked out ditech.com. Sure enough, their one fee was much less, but the interest rate was slightly more.

Now I didn't know what to do. I spent a lot of time last night debating the pros and cons of the lower monthly payment but the higher balance (I'd incorpurate the fees into the balance). Then I figured out that I was talking about a $22 per month difference.

That's right, this debate came down to that.

So I decided to go with ditech since I wouldn't have to roll the fees into the balance.

But when I called the lendingtree found person, he told me they'd do the same with no fees. Meanwhile, my fourth bid came in with a phenominal rate.

So I've spent most of the day on and off the phone trying to get this all worked out. It's finally settled. My new loan only cost me $110 at that. (The no fee turned out to be a slight fee because of the loan amount). Still, refinancing for $110 is very good if you ask me.

I was thrilled last night and this morning. Tonight I'm a little scaried and worried that I didn't go with the best deal. Not sure why that is because on paper it looks like the best deal and this is the person I spent the most time with on the phone.

Don't ask me to explain myself. I can't figure me out either. But if you can explain why I feel the way I do so much of the time, I'd like to know. I could use the insight.

What I've Been Up To

I honestly can't believe it's been so long since I blogged anything other then Memes. Shall I catch you up on my thrilling life?

Wednesday - We had our last ultimate frisbee game. It was at a different park, which was quite interesting. It took me forever to find the part of the park we were playing in. Unfortunately, we didn't have a field big enough to play two games in. We started out with a shortened field, and we were up by quite a bit. But then the other game ended and we decided to go to a regular length field. Big mistake. My team kept overshooting the end zones. Probably would have won if we had caught all those points in the end zone. Actually would have overshot by quite a bit. To make the evening more fun, there was a shooting in the neighborhood, so some of our team got turned away because of that, including several women. I felt sorry for our one woman, but she did an excellent job. On the plus side, I did score one of our points, so that made me feel good.

Thursday - Bible study went well that night. Especially when they fed us ice cream Sundays afterwards! I led worship by myself, and it went well. We had a small group since the beach trip had just ended that afternoon.

Friday - The highlight of the day was having lunch with Matt, who was back in town for a teacher ed meeting. He's moving back for the school year tomorrow! Actually, there are studients on campus today. I'm guessing their student leadership staff students since the new students arrive Saturday. Including two more of my former jr. highers! No, I'm not getting old, why do you ask? (And do you think I can use student one more time in this paragraph?)

Saturday - Lazy day. Heck, I didn't even take a shower. (Yes, you needed to know that.) Watched lots of Olympics.

Sunday - The summer league ultimate Frisbee tournament in Pomona. My team didn't so nearly as well this year as last year. We were eleminated in the quarter finals. And, I didn't play nearly as much as I would have liked to. But, on the plus side, it wasn't nearly as hot as it was last year. In fact, it was very pleasant in the shade. And the final game was outstanding. At half time, it was 8-3 and we figured it was a done deal. But then the other team came back to win 15-13. Couldn't ask for a better game then that. And the team that lost was the team that eleminated us from the tournament, so at least we lost to a good team. Frankly, we weren't playing that well, dropping easy stuff, things like that. And I include myself in that since I dropped a disc in the end zone.

Reading update - Read all of Lost Beneath Manhattan. Of course, being a kid's book, that wasn't that big a deal. And tonight, I expect to pass the half way point in Evan Only Knows. Quick but fun read, as usual.

Word Association for August 15th

Wow, I haven't been here in how long?

Just popping in for a minute, however, to do today's word association while it's still called today.

1. Server:: Network
2. Charlotte:: Web
3. Jackson:: Hole, Wyoming
4. Resentment:: Anger
5. Controlling:: Dominate
6. Intense:: Scary on some level
7. November:: Thanksgiving
8. Donkey:: Kong
9. Weave:: Fabric
10. Satisfies:: Refresh

Thursday Threesome for August 12th

This week's edition is once again brough to us by Webster and The Back Porch.

Flaneur \flah-NUR\, noun:

Onesome: One who strolls- How do you primarily get from place to place? Do you walk locally and only drive for distances? Ride your bike around campus or the neighborhood? Or hop in the car to run errands?
I drive everywhere I go. Of course, things are so spread out around town that it often takes 15 or 20 minutes to get where I want to go driving. I'd have no time for anything else if I biked or walked.

Twosome: about aimlessly; When you have time, do you like to do things outdoors like hike or take long walks? Do you wander rather aimlessly or do you have a destination in mind and the sooner you get there the better?
I'm one of those goal oriented people, so the sooner I get someplace, the happier I am. And I do like to do things outdoors, but it's usually swimming or ultimate Frisbee.

Threesome: a lounger; a loafer. Or do you prefer to spend your spare time relaxing, lounging on the couch with a good book or a TV program? Or, since the football season is upon us again, do you plop down in the recliner and cheer on your favorite team?
This is my favorite form of relaxing. As I'm sure you've noticed, give me a good book or a good TV show/movie, and I'm entertained for some time. Sports, on the other hand, I can do without. Except the Olympics. I'm really looking forward to watching them for the next couple of weeks.

Week's Half Over

And, frankly, I feel good about what we still need to go at work. Yes, things will be busy the next couple of days finalizing things for the audit, but that's the way things always are. And my goal is be done with what I know I need to do tomorrow so that Friday I can help out with miscellaneous projects. I'm really hoping not to have to work over the weekend, and I think we can make that happen.

Monday night I had a great time with the youth. Got there in time for dinner, played so Frisbee with them, lead worship, and left. Hey, when you only have three hours, you can't do much. I was very tired by the time I got home Monday night, but it was worth it.

The worst part was the part where I had to leave. I so want to go camping.

We're having a decent hot spell. Like 100 degrees. It doesn't seem like it's been getting that hot this summer, but I'm thrilled. I love hot weather in the summer. Of course, I normally get to sit in my office and don't have to deal with it too much. For example, I'm glad it will be cooling down before the summer league tournament this weekend.

My roommate probably isn't that happy about it, however. He got heat stroke yesterday from working in the sun all day. And got a nice sun burn to boot. Hope he faired better today.

I have 30 pages left in the Diagnosis Murder novel, and I can't wait to finish. Honestly, I can't figure out how it will end. My respect for Lee Goldberg continues to grow.

It's been awhile since I've commented on politics, but I must do it today. Nuanced? Flip-Flopper? Nope, Kerry is a downright liar. Read this article. Then tell me again which candidate lies? And which really cares about lying? And this doesn't even get into his Vietnam record, which he keeps exaggerating.

20 minutes left before I can go home and finish my book. It will be a long 20 minutes.

I'm Experiencing Phatom Hair Syndrome!

So, after having hair for 9 months after not having it for several years, I suddenly remember what it was like when I first shaved my head.

I get out of the shower and worry about combing my hair. And yet I don't have enough hair to comb.

In fact, my hair feels like I need to comb it, when their isn't hair of that length up there.

And I keep worrying about the comb in my wallet when getting it out or putting it in.

I'm laughing at myself for it. Yet with our sudden heat wave, it feels so good.

Of course, I did seem to get a sun burn at the pool yesterday. And I was only there less then an hour!

In other news, I spent Saturday out and about. Started out at the Reagan Presidental Library. First time I've been there this year, actually. Enjoyed the exhibit on Lewis and Clark. And got to see Reagan's grave. It was the most crowded I've ever seen it. I guess things are starting to slow down since Reagan's death, but it's been busy since then. They've also started building the building where Airforce 1 is going to be on display. I can't wait for that to open next summer.

Then I went down to Thousand Oaks for the signing for The Shooting Script, the third Diagnosis Murder novel. Had a great time and stayed much longer then I had intended to. Lee Goldberg is such a fun guy to hang out with. Started the book yesterday, and so far I'm enjoying it. As I expected.

And that's about all the news here. I'm supposed to be headed out to Ventura right now to spend an evening with the youth. It's the annual beach retreat and even though I need to work, I'm heading over there tonight.

Word Association for August 8th

Why look who's here to do the word association finally.

1. Sting:: Bee
2. BMW:: Car
3. Jeremy:: Camp
4. Audacious:: How could you?
5. Drag Queen:: Yuck!
6. Title:: Author
7. Stamp:: Letter
8. Bad:: Good
9. Snow White:: and teh Seven Dwarfs
10. Delegate:: Convention

It's a Sign

So now that I've survived Donald and my brother's wedding, my hair is once again my own. I wasn't really sure what I wanted to do with it, including possibly waiting until next weekend and getting a Mowhawk for the ultimate Frisbee tournament. Or trying a flattop again. But I finally decided to do what I've wanted to do most for months. Just buzz it. I was planning to do that tonight.

But last night I got an additional confirmation that this is what I should do. I took my comb out of my pocket and discovered that it had started to break. Now we're not talking about loosing a spoke or two. I've had that happen before. We're talking about breaking in half. I have no idea what caused it to do this so suddenly, but I figure if your comb is going to break, it's time to get rid of your hair. I don't see what else it could mean. Certainly isn't time to buy another comb.

In other news, the situation at home with the guest has resolved itself. For now. It could continue to be a problem for the foreseeable future, however. We'll just see what happens.

Bible study was fine last night. The kids played capture the flag most of the evening. It was nice for something different, especially since I didn't play. :) I'm not a capture the flag person. And I had to get the music together. Turns out I was the only one leading last night thanks to a little misunderstanding, but it worked out. We did some songs we don't do that often, so it was nice for something different.

I'm going to pass the half way point in Dark Water Dive tonight. Not a bad good, but the author could use some pointers on plotting. Like leaving out irrelevant bunny trails. Like the first three chapters for starters. Or the chapter I read last night. She gets on her soap boxes and forgets the mystery. Unless this all somehow ties together, in which case she still preaches too much in her books.

Thursday Threesome for August 5th

Hey. I've finally got a few minutes to do this week's Thursday Threesome, brought to us this week by the postman and The Back Porch.

Onesome: Surprises-- Hey, do you like surprises? ...and what kinds? Birthday parties, dinners out? ...or are you one of those people who absolutely has to know what's going on before it happens?
I always like pleasant surprises. :) Other then that, I like to know what's happening as soon in advance as possible. As I like to say, I can be flexible if you give me 10 minutes warning. :)

Twosome: in the-- nick of time: How do you keep track of birthdays and anniversaries and events you need to remember but only occur once a year? ...and where is your bailout place for cards and such when you've cut things a little too close?
For some reason, I seem to remember them. But if I ever forget some year, I know I'll be in a world of trouble. And I buy most of my cards at Hallmark stores in town, but sometimes I'll buy them at Wal-Mart or a grocery store or wherever I happen to be when I need one.

Threesome: Mail-- Mail Call! Did anything interesting show up lately besides the bills? ...and do letters and cards still make it to your place or have email and ecards taken it all over? Inquiring minds and all that...
The last surprise I had in the mail was the package from Faith, which I really enjoyed. I also got a package with a couple books and a DVD in it from Amazon last week, but I ordered that so I knew it was coming.

Yesterday Wasn't/Was My Day

With the way my day started yesterday, I was beginning to think I should just go back to bed. I had an appointment with my allergist at 10:30 yesterday. Now, granted, I got there at 10:35. But I was told the doctor was running late. Furthermore, they didn't copy my chart, so I couldn't get my shots like I'd planned to do.

I'll say the doctor was running late. It took an hour before she saw me. The visit itself went fine. And the plus was I got quite a ways through my book. In fact, I finished Killer Blonde last night. Read it in two days. Really enjoyed it in case you didn't figure that out. :)

After I finished the book last night, I went to my ultimate Frisbee game. And had the best game I've ever had. After trailing most of the game, we won 17-14. And some of the people they had "guarding" me were really poaching off of me. I got the disc at least five times and was able to pass it on all but one time. And one of those times was to score the point! I had hoped to catch one in the end zone and that didn't happen. But still, I was flying high. Nice to actually contribute something other then keeping my defender occupied.

Sunday's Word Associate Two Days Late

Better late then never, here's Sunday's word association.

1. I'm leaving out the first one.
2. Ribald:: Rimbaldi
3. Auction:: Sold!
4. Inch:: Meter
5. Tony:: Hillerman
6. Phony:: Uncle
7. Stool:: Pigeon
8. Coyote:: Ugly
9. Cinderella:: Slippers
10. Battery:: Acid

I'm Back!

I'm trying not to turn too green reading about Trixie Camp. Really, I am. Even if I didn't get to go, I had a good weekend.

Got up to my parent's Thursday night. The drive was mostly uneventful. Hit one patch of traffic where they had one lane closed. Other then night, sailed right up.

Friday morning we slept in as best we could and then I went out and picked up my tux. We were supposed to be helping decorate the church, but there wasn't enough for all who were there to do, so I didn't do much at all. Still, everything go done before the rehersal.

And the rehersal is were things got interesting. My sister-in-law's parents dont' get along and they got into a fight and my bro, sil, and her mom wound up yelling at each other in the bathroom for a little while. We were actually concerned that this might ruin the wedding itself, so we started praying hard.

Fortunately, it didn't.

We got to the church early to take pictures. Surprisingly, we managed to get all the pictures taken before the ceremony started. While this has been the intention of all the weddings I've been do, it hasn't happened until this one. We did take a couple with extended family after the ceremony, but that was it.

The wedding went off with only one hitch, bro and sil. The reception was nice as well. It was really nice getting to catch up with family I don't see all that often. Even if it wasn't for as long as I would like.

Then yesterday, I got to drive home. Stopped and had lunch with Donald and Heather. Lots of fun and too short as always.

Got home last night to discover that our house guest is still there. He was supposed to be gone Thursday night. Now, he's supposed to be gone Friday when his host goes home for a visit. That had better be the case. I'm just really not confortable with the cituation.

In other news, I see I'm working on making another convert. Faith picked up a Trixie book to read! While many people like #7, my favorite is The Gatehouse Mystery. Either way, I hope you enjoy.