Where to Post

See, this is where things get hard. I have two blogs, this one that I have KIND OF (Ok not even a little bit) kept up and my other blog that I was asked to make during my education days. Now, I want to touch on my experiences with my new life, my new job and all that Jazz but I don't know where to put it.

For right now I'm just going to mash everything into here.

I feel that the past year has been a very big growing experience for me. A lot has happened.

I graduated from University, I moved back to Calgary, I got a job in my field, and the most important and I believe most note worthy thing that has happened in the past year is that I made the decision to not just go back to Church, but to be truly active in the church.

For five years I didn't think that it was going to make a difference if I went to church or if I didn't. I was wrong. I can honestly say that in these past two years my life has been blessed tenfold. I can truly see the blessings in my life, and I know that they are from the Lord. I am not only happy to say that but in a way proud to finally be able to stand for what I believe in. It isn't everyday that I can stand tall and be proud of who I am. I think that this has taken me oh, 24 years of practice and 24 years of landing on my face.

But I can honestly say that now that I have the Gospel back in my life, I am happy. Much happier then I ever was before. It's funny because I think about what my life was like as I was going through University and how hard I was working. And then in my last year how hard I was working yes, but also how peaceful I was. My stress was no longer important, I could focus on the bigger picture in my life, I was happy with the way things were. Recently, I have to admit I have lost sight of that.

It is easy to do when you start a new career, and you are trying to get your life off the ground. I know I am guilty of letting little things like reading my scriptures everyday slip by me. But I have to remember that it is the little things in life that make a world of difference. And thus, I must make the effort of getting up at 5:45 so that I have those 15 extra minutes to read the scriptures and set my day off on the right foot. I know that if I can do this, if I can remember who I am and what I stand for at all times, I will be a happier person.

Another thing that I think I need to really focus on right now is Family History. I'm toying with the idea of making another blog so I can be accountable for all of my Family History workings. But I don't keep this one up to date. How could I manage another one, I mean seriously?

Ok that's it for me today. I do want to make this a more constant thing. We'll see what happens.

2 years gone

And I'm back! Ok, so I don't know how long I will be back for but I do feel that this is a great way to chronicle my life. Which I do need to start doing more of. I don't think that my posts will be as elaborate as they were before... Actually they might be, it depends on how slow the whole sub thing is!

I realize not very many, if anyone will be reading this but that's ok! it's more for me anyway!

As for now, I must be off. I have a busy day of being unemployed!

Why Sea Monkey’s Are Awesome!!!

Sea Monkey’s have been around forever! And this is a small list as to why I believe these brine shrimp creatures are so amazing!

• Their hard shell makes it difficult for other ocean dwellers to eat them
  
• They appear to come to life instantaneously when you add water! Instant life doesn’t mean instant fun. They are the size of a pin head when they first hatch.
  
• The Males are smaller than the females, obviously making them inferior.
  
• However, to compensate, they have pincers under their chins to fight and grab stuff!
  
• When they’re born they have three- count them THREE eyes! You can tell when they have fully matured when their third eye located in the middle of their head falls off!
  
• These little critters don’t have brains, just ganglia! No brain, no pain!
  
• They breathe using their legs, THEIR LEGS!!!
  
• AND their kidneys are in their head!!! (How weird/cool is that?)
  
• Sea monkeys have a circulatory system to move the blood around. And they have hemoglobin, interestingly enough there is an inverse correlation between the amount of oxygen that these little critters blood. (Ex. If there is lots of oxygen in the water, there is very little hemoglobin in the blood)
  
• Sometimes it will look like they are juggling algae, it’s because they use their oxygen breathing legs to push the algae to their mouths so the brine shrimp can consumer the magnificent act of photosynthesis that is algae.
• These lovely creatures are capable of reproducing sexually or asexually. The best of both worlds I guess!
• The best part about these little creatures is that they’re wicked low maintenance, you can do sweet science projects with them, and I’m sure they’ll keep you entertained for up to a year (the brine shrimp lifespan.).

The only downside I found is that contrary to the pictures that are displayed on the boxes, the female sea monkeys do not have lipstick and itty bitty pearls around their necks. And, the males are not muscular and dashing. In fact, from the pictures that I have seen of these little suckers, I’d be hard pressed to tell the males from the females.

The Final Chapter...

I’ll be the first to admit that I’m a HUGE Harry Potter freak! I love Harry which is why I have such mixed feelings about what happens in 25 days. These books have been part of my life for the past eight years, I’ve read them at least annually if not more often and I am always finding more hints and secrets about foreshadowing of what is yet to come. For me there was comfort and frustration in knowing that as long as the series wasn’t done, I could formulate theories and discuss them amongst my fellow HP lovers.

When the cover for Deathly Hallows came out I was beyond excited! I began looking at it and wondering what all the gold was about. However, it wasn’t until I was in chapters and was able to look at the blown up cover displayed in the window that I realized there was more to this cover then meets the eye. Look closely and you will realize it isn’t Ron Weasly holding the sword! My first thought was DOBBY, but look at pictures of Dobby, he doesn’t have pointed ears. The way this thing is positioned makes me think it is evil, so my next thought naturally went to Kretcher. However, Kretcher can’t turn on Harry we’ve already determined this and the position of the sword and the hand on Harry’s shoulder doesn’t exactly say “comfort” to me.

Each picture before has offered us a key into the book, without the golden egg Harry wouldn’t have faced Voldermort and discovered that he is in fact back! Or without the Hogwarts express, how would we have these Magical stories? We wouldn’t and there’s more to the covers then people like to believe. The covers give us insight into the story.

As opposed to the last cover, or any cover for that fact, there is a lot of color and action taking place here. There are Galleons flying around everywhere, rubies, armor, a goblet (Hufflepuff anyone?), and probably other stuff I can’t see! Behind Harry and still in the thick of the Chaos there is a sword (Which I’m thinking might be Griffyndor’s) being held up by the previously stated unidentified creature.This is the most danger we have ever seen Harry Potter in. In ALL of the covers before, we see Harry about to conquer or win (Again the golden egg is an excellent example because although we may think he is in danger once you know what is going on you realize he has the situation under control. He’s thought it out and has a plan of attack) However this photo Harry is falling a sign of vulnerability, there are cuts on his arms as well as Hermione’s. On top of all this Ron’s face shows distinct signs of horror, and none of these beloved characters have their wands out. YET all of them have their wand arm visible. I don’t know about you but to me that doesn’t say “nothing to see here folks” It says “Harry is in danger!!!!”

Maybe the house elves have had enough of SPEW and have decided to revolt! (I doubt it but hey it’s always a possibility, we haven’t heard much of SPEW since GOF and JKR doesn’t put things in her books without a reason.)

A couple of other things that I would like to point out from my observations from this cover:
Ron’s being pulled back into the archway, no really he is! Don’t believe me look at his collar, not to mention the way the air is pushing his hair forward towards his face, unlike Harry and Hermione’s that’s being pushed away. This makes me think Ron is in mortal danger (More so then the other two that is). Now my question is this, why are they going after Ron? Or maybe the better question is ARE they going after Ron or is he just a casualty in the grand scheme of things? If you look at the picture closely, he is the only one in the picture without wounds on his arms, his robes have no holes in them like Harry and Hermione yet my gut is telling me he is in the most danger in this picture.

YES THAT’S RIGHT FOLKS I JUST ASKED THE BIG QUESTION. JKR said in a previous interview that she is dealing with pure evil and they go for the main characters, or at least she does. It has also been stated that one character lives while two other she was expecting to survive bite the dust. What will be the fate of Ron Weasly?

As I was coming up with this brilliant blog, I came across an editorial on Mugglenet which I encourage you all to read. It made me think before I posted this, but in the end I decided I worked on this, I should post it!

I'd also like to point out that in either the UK or the USA cover Harry is in mortal danger and without a wand. What the heck is that about? And what is that giant thing? An oversized Death Eater??? Or how about the back of the UK book? Is that Hogwarts? Does that mean he will return evern for a short portion of time?

All questions that need to be answered in the 7th book! Not to mention the whole eyes thing!

Snap-On: A History

Much like a Rolls-Royce, Rolex or pair of Manolo’s, Snap-on Tools is the gold standard in the tool business. However, unlike the people buying Manolo’s, Gucci, or Vuitton, the cliental is almost distinctly blue collared and without the luxuries of qualifying for a Black Amex. So, what makes these tools so coveted by mechanics? I have no idea, but I did a little Googling and learned the following about the company!

Snap-on: A History

The Snap-on Wrench Company was born in the 1920’s by Joseph Johnson and William Seidemann. The dual manufactured a set of ten sockets that would “snap on” to five interchangeable handles. Believing that they had an innovative product that would help all auto mechanics, the pair took the set to an auto repair shop along Michigan Avenue and presented their revolutionary tools to the auto community with the marketing slogan “Five Do the Work of Fifty.” It was this slogan that led them to sell six-hundred-and-fifty sets in their first sixteen days on the market (I’m not econ major but I do think that’s pretty impressive!). The company began to boom and soon after, Johnson and Seidemann enlisted the help of Stanton Palmer, who began taking the tools directly to the customer’s place of business and demonstrating the benefits of their tools. This inventive marketing approach was a great success and is still used by the company today.

In just eleven short years, (1931) the Snap-on company was able to enter the international arena. To commemorate this momentous event (But more in response to the Great Depression) the company began to offer its cliental interest free credit when they purchased tools. This is a practice still in use today (so long as the purchases are under a thousand dollars). In 1950, Snap-on expanded their concept and began to bring fully stocked walk-in vans to their customers. This van is now the pinnacle of most mechanics week, waiting in anticipation for the opportunity to blow their hard earned cash on pry bars, ratchets, or things that need to be calibrated!

Since its conception, Snap-on has stayed focused on its target market, avoiding forays into even related markets such as construction or home improvement. The focus has always been quality and customer relations. It wasn’t until early 1997 that the company opened their first retail outlet. Giving people who are not professional mechanics an opportunity to buy Snap on tools for themselves, or as gifts (But in order to give a gift you need to know what the junkie has and doesn’t have, which proves to be a problem).

Yes, Snap-on does seem to be the tools of choice for both young and old. For a young mechanic, stepping onto the Snap-on truck and buying a new set of Snap-on wrenches or their first pry bar must be similar to the feeling a dancer must experiences when they go to buy their first pair of pointe shoes. (Yes, that’s right, I went there! I compared Snap-on to Pointe!! Deal with it!).

Pry Bar

The definition of a pry bar (found from Dictionary.com) is as follows:
Noun1.pry bar - a heavy iron lever with one end forged into a wedge.

Now, with that vague of a description, I figured that this would be an easy blog, I was wrong there are three, count them, THREE different categories that you can fit these tools into Cats Paw, Pry Bar, and Wrecking Bar (Otherwise known as a Crow Bar). If you’re actually interested in what these three categories consist of, click here.

Pry bars actually come in a variety of different sizes, depending on how much leverage you need, and the size of the space that you need to get into.

So, why would I write a blog on Snap-on pry bars??? Well, I got this sweet 36” pry bar the other night and felt the need to enlighten the rest of the world about the magic that this company has to offer.

Oh yeah, I know just by looking at it you can tell, there is a difference!

Snap-on Facts

• Measured by number of vans on the road, Snap-on owns 60 percent of the business. Mac Tools (Snap-on’s nearest competitor) has 13 percent

• Snap-on also makes an appearance in the movie Swordfish as well as other key television shows, such as American Chopper.

• Snap-on employs approximately 11,500 people worldwide.

• The company is currently worth about 2.4 billion dollars US.
  

You Know You're a Burned Out Drama Major When:

• You feel as though your life has become an expressionist play:

• It's episodic

• Everything around you starts looking as though it belongs in a Tim Burton movie

• And then you realize, it's all in your head!

• Your intention was to do homework
  

• Your action is writing this blog

• Stressed and unstressed no longer reference syllables, but the tides of your emotions

• Brecht's alienation effect can be applied to your socail life

• To hear someone mention Drury Lane pisses you off because you no longer think of happy things like The Muffin Man!

• The subtext of all your conversatoins: "Get the hell away from me" or "I need more sleep!"

• The music that you have selected to accentuate the emotional coloring of your life is dark and full of angst!

And Finally...

• Your deep swamp of emotion is saying "DIE" as opposed to "ha"
  

Tis the season

No I'm not talking about "love being in the air" or any of that crap!
I'm referencing the ever popular U of A purity test!

Do it or you're a lameo!

http://www.gateway.ualberta.ca/view.php?aid=7594

(Or click here)

I'm extremely pure this year, 72! (Last year was 89)


Anyway have fun tell me what you get, or don't tell me what you get, like I care! Pfft!