There are No Ties in Monticello

This weekend Robyn and I decided to embark on an adventure with our friends Cameron and Tammy.  As part of our continuing mission to visit all of the LDS Temples in Utah, we drove down to Monticello to experience the temple there.  We thought it would be fun to go to the temple and then stop off at Arches National Park to do some hiking.

Upon our arrival at our hotel, it occurred to me that, in my infinite wisdom, I had forgotten to bring my tie.  I had my suit coat, my dress shoes, my white shirt, everything else I need, but somehow I forgot a tie.  I figured it wouldn't be a big deal.  I'd just swing by a store and purchase a tie before we go to the temple.  I called the front desk at our hotel and asked where they thought I could buy a tie.  They couldn't think of anyone that sold ties.  I wanted to ask, "Does your husband own a tie?  Where did he get it?"  But I figured that wouldn't be nice.  We even went to a little store nearby and asked the teller if she knew of anywhere that might sell ties.  Apparently no ties can be bought or sold within Monticello city limits.

I went to the temple without a tie.  I saw people coming out and figured they didn't need their ties anymore.  I told Robyn I should go offer to buy one of them, but she felt that was much too embarrassing so I didn't do it.

Here is a self portrait we took at the temple.  There are more pics at my temple blog

After the temple, we proceeded to Arches National Park.  Luckily, a tie isn't required attire in Arches.  But apparently Robyn and I had a disagreement about what attire was required.  You see, I was under the impression that we were in the middle of the desert in southern Utah.  I think she thought we were in Alaska.  But this is us in front of Balanced Rock.

We hiked up to Delicate Arch.  I have done that hike a number of times in my life, but I've always done it in the middle of the night. (You can see some night shots at Robyn's blog from a previous trip.)  Cameron and Tammy were with us but we decided they were cheating because their legs are longer and require less strides.  This is what we looked at the whole way up.  (Isn't it unfair that they were ahead the whole time?  President Obama should do something about this.  I think when you spread the height around, it's good for everybody.)

We finally made it to Delicate Arch despite the fact that we are vertically challenged and required more strides to get there.  We celebrated by being precious in front of the arch.

That other guy was celebrating with us.  That's how he rolls.

The Pies Have Returned

Well, March 14th came just like it does every year.  And just like every year we got together to celebrate the fabulous number pi (3.14) by eating pie.  (If you don't understand the correlation, March 14th can be written 3/14 which is similar to 3.14)

Pi day is a fabulous day every year.  It's the day that all the normal people can appreciate the geeky ones among us who get excited about numbers.  They don't notice the geekitude because they're too busy eating pie.

This year wasn't as big as some of our past celebrations but it was a success nonetheless.

We had a goodly number of pies.

We also had a good crew of people ready to eat pie.

We had judges who were selected because they had been on the BYU dance team. (Look, we've had a lot of pie nights over the years, getting new judges each time is difficult.  Sometimes you have to make up some qualifications.  Clearly dancers know if pie tastes good right?)

I feel we gave out good prizes this year for the best pies.  First prize went to my BFF Jared W's mom.  She has been a faithful attender at our pie events for years.  She's been in the top 3 many times but this was her first time to take the crown.  She leaped for joy and hugged me with such energy I was almost knocked over. You can't see it but I am presenting her a 10 dollar gift certificate to Kneaders. (So she can buy more pie)

Second prize went to Kathryn, she got this fancy calculator/ruler combo.  Now she can calculate pi to her heart's content.

Third prize went to Carla, but her reward was possibly better than the other two.  She was presented with an autographed picture of me and Robyn.  (That will be worth some serious cash someday.)

It was a great event.  I look forward to many great pi days in the future.  It was also pointed out to me that tau (2 pi) is a great constant as well.  I don't know why we've never celebrated it before but we may have to celebrate Tau day on June 28th.  Tau has twice as much pie!  Stay tuned for that goodness.

The Low Battery Detector

We all know the dangers of fire.  If there is a fire in your home you could be burned or could inhale too much smoke.  These are things that most people consider to be less desirable.

To avoid these unpleasant scenarios many people purchase smoke detectors to put in their homes.  I am currently cranky at my smoke detector, so the rest of this post will be expressing that crankiness.  But before anyone gets too cranky at me I would like to express that I am a believer in smoke detectors and we even pay extra so that our smoke detector will automatically call the fire department if there is a problem.

Now that I've given that disclaimer, I'd like to discuss the function of the smoke detector.  It's whole purpose is that when there is smoke it makes a loud, obnoxious sound that should be translated in your head to mean, "DUDE!  THERE'S A FIRE IN YOUR HOUSE THAT COULD KILL YOU! GET OUT! GET OUT! GET OUT! GET OUT!"  Yes, I believe if they could speak they would use the word "dude".

Fortunately, we have never had a fire so ours has not had to deliver that message.  Unfortunately, it still wants to be an active part of my life.  One of ours happens to be in the hallway right outside the bathroom door.  Whenever I take an exceptionally long shower, the steam flows out of the bathroom when I open the door.  The alarm goes off to notify me "DUDE!  YOU TOOK A REALLY LONG SHOWER!  IT MADE LOTS OF STEAM!  IT'S STEAMY! IT'S STEAMY! IT'S STEAMY!"  This is a very helpful message to receive, especially since I then get a call from the monitoring company and I have to explain that my house is not burning down, I just took a long shower.

But that's not why I am currently cranky.  The other night, I was awoken from my gentle slumber by a beeping noise.  I lay there and slowly drifted to the point where I was almost back asleep when it went off again.  This process repeated about 50,000 times.  My heart was filled with much anger.  The beeping was the alarm's way of saying. "DUDE!  MY BATTERY IS LOW!  I NEED A NEW BATTERY NOW! NO SLEEPING! NO SLEEPING!"

Here is what I don't understand about the low battery beep.  If you ignore it, three months later it's still beeping, only the meaning has changed to "DUDE!  YOU THOUGHT I HAD A LOW BATTERY, BUT I HAVE ENOUGH BATTERY TO BEEP UNTIL YOU GIVE IN!  I KNOW YOU'LL CRACK BEFORE I DO! JUST GIVE IN! JUST GIVE IN!"

I'll have you know I heeded the warning.  The beeping only lasted like 36 hours before we had bought new batteries.  But it made me question the primary function of this device.  Is it really a smoke detector?  Certainly it has the ability to detect smoke, but most people will never use that function.  The primary service that it provides is detecting a low charge within a battery.  I hereby declare that they are smoke detectors no more.  Henceforth, they shall be deemed low battery detectors.

I Will Eat Them in a House or With a Mouse

Have you ever wondered what it would be like to live in a world created by Dr. Seuss? His books are filled with fancy architecture and super cool creatures. This week I got a glimpse into that world.

You see, a few days ago was Dr Seuss' birthday. Of course, I was quite ignorant of that fact. But Robyn, in her infinite wisdom, was not. When I came home from work that day I saw Robyn scooping something green onto a plate next to ham. At first I was a little confused but then I realized I was being treated to green eggs and ham.

I've only had green eggs and ham once in my life prior to this experience.  As a small child I was going camping with my dad.  He said I could choose whatever I wanted for breakfast and he would bring what he needed to make it in the morning.  Being a sly little child I wanted to stump my dad by presenting an imaginary dish.  I told him I wanted green eggs and ham.  To my surprise he cooked me some green eggs and ham over a campfire the next morning.

Both of my green eggs and ham experiences transported me into a world of wonder.  Even though this time I was aware of such things as food coloring, it still filled my heart with gladness and took away all my sadness.  (Eased my troubles, that's what it did.)

Now that I know the world of Dr. Seuss is real, I'm hoping that Robyn will step up her game.  I'm hoping to come home to find a new friend she found in the dark in the park.

We will take him home.  We will call him Clark.