Greater Love Hath No Man

In the Bible Jesus said "Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends." This is one of my favorite Bible passages. Growing up Mormon I was taught that many things had been "added and taken away" from the Bible over time. If I had been one of those presented with that singular opportunity, I might have added "Greater love hath no man than he helps his friend move all his #$%^" to the above. I would also add a note about Sunday School being optional, but that is another post.

I moved last weekend and moving is a complete and total hassle. In this post I want to thank those selfless souls who sacrificed their Saturday and, for some a football game, to help us move all our crap. We have a lot of crap.

First our parents.
My father was key in helping with the inspection process, provided much need advice as well as doing last minute repairs on the electrical system so we could have a working dryer. My mother spent the entire afternoon moving heavy boxes and even purchased us all lunch. Not only that but they spent a solid 3 hour cleaning our old apartment. Giving us a chance to "baby proof" the new house, before something terrible could happen.

My Mother in Law watched our kids all day and helped repair a gas leak that could have blown us all to kingdom come. She helped us take care of it right away. My father in-law did more than his fair share of heavy lifting, and truck driving in heavy traffic. They have been of greater help than I dare make public in our attempt to acquire a new refrigerator, which will arrive today. (It even has a ice machine.)

My brother-in-law and sister were willing to be late to a football game to help us do one more load in their truck. As well as doing much of the unloading we were to exhausted to do.

We are extremely grateful for all the help offered. These people made a rather trying experience go much much smoother than one could have hoped. If there was some kind of award out there for such behavior I would suggest every last one of you.

On a lesser note I would like to thank 7-11. Plus a certain hardware store that wil remain unnamed. We went to get a plug to repair the gas leak and pick up a 3/4 inch. When we got home we discovered, to our despair, the 3/4 was to big. I reached in my pocket and realized I was guilty of shop-lifting. While we were discussing what size we needed I must have slipped a 1/2 inch plug in my pocket when I went to ask a clerk a question, and forgot to return it. Apparently I am such a good criminal I even fooled myself. We returned the unused part, but I never informed the store.

I would not like to thank Dell Taco, those villains are now on the list for sending me to vomit city.

I will try and get photos soon.

The Economy

Well it sucks. I imagine some of you are thinking "another amazing assessment from the Captain Obvious."

I really tried to listen to Pres. Bush's speech, and that is really hard becouse he is such an ass hat. Even the few really intellect and logical things he says sound like he has no idea what he is talking about. The man really has some kind of bizarre power.

Despite the current conditions we bought a house today. It is a fairly nice house, and has been recently remodeled. Which is really great becouse remodeling is not my thing. The only problem is the guy who did the remodel is an idiot. Not the normal breed of idiot one usually bumps into in grocery store lines, but the kind of idiot who remodels a house in such a fashion that is both a fire and health hazard. Really, doing electrical work is not like pottery, or sewing you don't just go out and give it a try for the hell of it.

The best thing about the house is that it belongs to us and we can do anything we want in and to it. Except purposely tear/burn it to the ground, the bank said we can't do that. Apparently this kind of things must happens all the time becouse the spent a lot of time make sure I was clear on this point.

One last strange thing that happened today,. I went to a work potluck and all the men sat at one table and all the women sat at another. It was like elementary school only without the country fired chicken. Praise heaven for sparing us that pain experience. It was just kind of strange.

Like a Horse and Carriage

This week was my younger sisters wedding. Here are the three of us. My older sister on the right, the younger in the middle and of course yours truly (looking quite smashing in that fantastic suit) on the left.

It was an excellent wedding. It had everything required for a successful wedding: dancing grandma, lots of hugging/crying, smooth execution, uncomfortable picture taking, and of course meatballs. Late the night before my soon to be bother in law called me and asked me to be a "witness" to the wedding. Of course, I was honored, and the tiniest bit surprised. I am always a little surprised when people ask me to be a part of this kind of things. I don't consider myself a spiritual person and have, on occasion, been actually accusing of driving away "the spirit." Whatever that is supposed to mean. Anyways the best part about being a "witness" is I had box seats to the whole affair. My sister looked quite beautiful if I am allowed to say that sort of thing, and the smile on her face was priceless. Not in a cheese credit card commercial sense but in a more legitimate "this really cannot be purchased" sort of way. I think that was my favorite part. The worst part about being a witness is you have to listen to a creepy "powers, priesthoods and dominions" lecture from the guy who does the paper work in the lobby. He told me I was supposed to teach my sister and her new husband something from this unique (polite term for craze ass) discourse. I couldn't make heads or tails, and since I am sure it was not "official" I say to hell with it.

Here is a shot of the other witness, my dad, and the groom. The groom has many endearing traits such as a sense of humor, pleasant disposition, is a non-smoker, but the thing I like the best about him is he really can kick ass. I mean that in the most literal sense of the term. He is a hand to hand army combat instructor and a former Ultimate Fighter. He has all the ass kicking credentials one could ask for. When your me it is always good to know a few people like this.

This is my mom and older sister.
The ring ceremony was incredible.(I almost said breath taking but that is such a nebulous term.) It was kind of like a movie that makes you laugh and cry, like like Serenity, or maybe Star Trek VI. There was dancing at the reception. The happy bride and groom and some friend (include one wild grandmother) were "getting down" if that is the correct term. My sister wanted me to join in so, this being her day, I did as I was told. When I found myself on the dance floor it suddenly occurred to me that I didn't have the foggiest idea what I should do. I tried moving my hands and then kind of bouncing up and down. Nothing felt quite natural, so I made a rather hasty retreat. If you have read me profile you know I am a mathematics major. Those of us who have suffered through Inferential Statistics should not be asked to dance. We have already suffered so. A

Over all it was an excellent wedding. My sister looked absolutely stunning, no major mishaps. It was really quite a success.

Oh yeah, I wanted to pass a bit of knowledge gained on using the temple parking lot under the Conference Center. At the desk inside they give you token so you don't have to pay the $10 fee. Apparently a SuperSonic car wash token works just as well and can be purchased for $1 at any SuperSonic location.

Attractive poeple

In case my few precious readers are growing tired of The War Between the States, here are some photos of the most attractive people I know. They get their looks from their mother and their ability to find cookies, candy or similar items (no matter how well hidden) from me.





I have only one word for this ... bitchin.




She is never very far from those horses.


What can I say, he loves to cook.

IRM

Here are a few boys from the Iron Rooster Mess. We did some ambro types last weekend.

This is our blacksmith and the only one among us with a proper career.


This handsome fellow is yours truly.
I love this photo because this is one of the nicest men you will ever meet, yet this photo makes him look the meanest, toughest, son of a bitch you'll ever meet.
I know what you are thinking about the hats, and yes we do look kind of like pilgrim, but they are what would have been worn. I think this one turned out the best. By the way the man on the left is winning.


This one is my favorite. IRM at its finest. Of course this isn't all of us.

145 of Gettysburg

For my second post I figured I should focus on most recent trip back east to 145th Reenactment of the Battle of Gettysburg. We fell in with an excellent Company out of the Old North State. The 6th NC was one of the finest groups I have fallen in with. They were safe, knowledgeable and dedicated. Attached is a photo of our Company.
The most memorable part of the event was Picket's Charge. We had almost the exact same number of guys that were in the company we were portraying. Before the event we drew slips of paper that told us what happen to us and when it happened. I was "killed" shortly after the half way point. As I lay on the ground I watched as our company melted like ice held to a flame until it dissolved. It was incredible to see.

The second most memorable part was on one of the march to the field. We passed a women prancing around in her period underwear and nothing else. It was far more modest than what one would see at the mall but not something I would elect to see again. We got into a dsicussion in which Brian commented "I thought we were fighting for Southern Bells." To which someone replyed "Nope just slavery, we are all to lazy to do our own work" Maybe it was the heat, but we sure thought that was funny.

In our Hotel our breakfast nook was named after Devils Den a horrific part of the battle and perhaps the closest think to hell on earth. I thought abut this while I sat eating my yogurt and butter my toasted enlgish muffin and felt dirty.
Above in the photo of the guys I attended with. not the prettiest bunch but we made an good show of ourselves.

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Holy Ass Crackers I created a blog!