Playing for Change was something I first saw on PBS. The documentary is about this guy who traveled the world to see how music unites us. No matter where you live you listen to music. By focusing on what brings us together we can have hope that things aren't as bad as they can be if we go through life alone. Check out the website:

www.playingforchange.com

Life in the Left Lane, Part 11

Theory #11, Limited Space

I admit this really isn't a theory. Perhaps a better description would be a qualifier. The underlying assumption to all of these posts is that driving in the left lane can be irritating to other drivers if you are doing so outside of the unspoken rules. But those same rules say that there are times when driving in the left lane isn't all that bad.

Any road will at times get so loaded with traffic that no matter what lane you are driving in you are going no where. There's just so much space. In crowded conditions no one really cares who is driving in the left lane because they are just frustrated they aren't moving. I guess you could say that there is no distinct target of frustration in a traffic jam except for the traffic as a whole.

So traffic may cause people to drive in the left lane, it happens.

Life in the Left Lane, Part 10

Theory #10, Keeping up with the Jones'

Well, so far all of the theories have had practical explanations. Quite simply, this one doesn't. The theory is that people just want to be cool, like everyone else. Like the Ego theory, somehow driving in the left lane conveys a level of status that people want to have. Driving a BMW, Hummer, or Mercedes is not enough if you aren't driving in the socially hip lane.

Maybe they just want to be part of the herd. Here's an article that could apply to this theory: Understanding the Herd Mentality

I really don't have much to comment on this theory, because if this is why people are driving in the left lane they are just stupid. There's a whole road to drive on to look cool. In fact, I've heard that the really cool people actually drive on the right side. Yeah, seriously. Tell your friends.

White frosted donuts

I know I am messing up my on-going rant about driving in the left lane with this post, but I think it's worthy of the interruption.

Tonight my roommate and I went to the grocery store. At Shoppers they have the most wonderful donuts. Think Dunkin Donuts only twice the size. We had to get some. They didn't have the Boston Creme filled like we both like, so he settled for a blueberry filled. I grabbed about 5 more white frosted donuts (two white frosted with Christmas colored sprinkles, a white frosted buttermilk, a marble frosted, and a plain white frosted). I don't usually prefer chocolate frosted.

I made a comment about how all of the donuts were white frosted. He responded, "Hmm. What are the odds of that?" I thought about that for a moment. After realizing I had selected all of the donuts I said, "Actually, pretty good. I did choose them." He then realized why it was funny too and we both laughed.

I think he meant that having only white frosted donuts to choose from would be odd. When you say it that way it's not so funny.

Life in the Left Lane, Part 9

Theory #9, Quest for Stability

While only a few states have left lane exits, all states have right lane entrances. At least in the United States most traffic will get onto a roadway from the right side. This means that if the left lane is meant for speed and passing, the right lane is meant for slowing and merging.

Understandably, people who intend to travel a distance on the freeway may want to drive on the left to avoid the congestion and starts-and-stops of the right side. In theory, the further left you go the less interruption you would have. Well, in theory. The problem is when people choose to only drive on the left or right. For freeways, which most likely have more than two lanes, the lanes in the middle are options too. However, you have to cross through those lanes to get to either side.

Is the left lane more stable? Possibly. Should you camp out there to avoid other traffic? No. When the lanes on the right are less crowded than the lanes on the left, it's time to spread the wealth of the road real estate.

Life in the Left Lane, Part 8

Theory #8 - Is Big Brother watching?

I'm back from the break. Time to finish out these theories. You'd think I have nothing better in life to do than to ponder why people love to block traffic in the left lane. My commute is about a half hour each way, so I spend an hour a day driving in traffic. Plenty of time to evaluate driving habits... but I digress.

This theory starts with a story. A friend and I went to his hometown of Erie, PA. I'd never been, so I was up for a road trip. In Maryland because so many people drive in the left lane you often have a better chance of passing on the right. I'm used to this by now. However, a weird thing happened once we crossed the state line... everyone moved to the right. If I hadn't seen it with my own eyes I wouldn't have believed it. To say the event was shocking is slightly exaggerated, but gets in the realm of what I was feeling.

You might chalk it up to a one time thing. I commented about it and my friend responded that driving in the left lane when you're not passing anyone is illegal in PA. Interesting thought. We spent a few days in Erie, then headed back. When we got back to the state line another interesting thing happened. Once in Maryland everyone moved to the left. WHAT!!! Again, if I hadn't seen it with my own eyes I would have never believed it.

Odd behavior, eh? Why would a state line make any difference, much less one so dramatic? Obviously laws and regulations can make a big difference. More importantly though, enforcement of laws make all the difference. People jam on the brakes when they see a cop because speeding tickets can be expensive. Imagine how people would drive if they got tickets for hanging out in the left lane. I'm not saying there should be a law that prevents everyone from driving in the left lane, but how about driving in the left lane with a line of traffic behind you? When I grew up in Arizona I was taught that if you had more than 5 people driving behind you cops could give you a ticket. I've never seen that law, or seen a cop pull anyone over for that. I'd love to.

Props to Oklahoma for actually cracking down on this.

Life in the Left Lane, Part 7

Theory #7 - Caught in the current

So up until now all of the theories have assumed that people drive slow in the left lane on purpose to spite the other drivers around them. This one throws a spin on that a bit. At some point people will move out of the left lane. Oh yes, they will... even if it's the exit after yours. However, there are times where people want to move out of the left lane but can't.

There is a phenomenon that happens when people end up in the left lane but don't intend to stay there, or realize too late that they need to move. When drivers are slow enough the quicker drivers take any chance they get to move around them. If enough drivers start passing they effectively block the exit route of the offending left-lane driver. No matter how hard the driver tries to move over they can't because the quicker moving traffic keeps moving around them. Compounding the problem is that drivers caught in this situation are typically not very assertive. That means they can't move their way into the traffic until someone decides to give them a chance again. Should they wait too long they will remain trapped on the left edges of the highway.

Maybe I've been on the East coast too long, but if you are driving on a freeway you have to be assertive. There's just too much traffic to be wishy-washy about what you are going to do. I'm not saying to drive aggressively...there's a difference. If you're a person who has a hard time making decisions (like which exit you are supposed to take...) maybe you should think twice before venturing into the left side of the road.

Life in the Left Lane, Part 6

Theory #6 - LaLa Land / Distracted

As with the Ego theory, I would bet a lot of people cite this one as the reason for peoples' penchant for the left side of the road. This theory is fairly simple, these drivers don't have a clue. They are either talking on the cell phone, looking for the french fry that fell on the floor, or just jamming to some good tunes. They don't bother to look in the rear view mirror to see the line of traffic stretching on for miles. Blink your lights, honk your horn, wave with one finger all you want... they ain't gonna see you.

While the Ego theory considered people who only care about themselves, this theory differs in that these drivers aren't necessarily concerned only with themselves. They'd move over if they knew there was a line of cars behind them, but they just haven't noticed. In my opinion, these are the scariest group of drivers. My hunch is that they are more likely to be involved in accidents because they simply aren't paying attention to anything on the road, much less their time in the left lane.

In Germany drivers would never think about eating in a car, or talking on a cell phone. For Germans driving is not only a past time, but a responsibility. Maybe we could learn from the Germans. If you are behind the wheel pay attention... your driving affects everyone on the road.

Life in the Left Lane, Part 5

Theory #5 - Social Justice

So this theory goes that some people take it upon themselves to keep the order in society. Many people go the legitimate route and actually become police officers or health inspectors. Others just enforce the rules unofficially in their every day lives.

On the roads this means that they will drive the speed limit regardless of the consequences to traffic conditions. I actually found a blog entry about this from a person in Canada. If they are driving in the left lane then anyone driving faster will just have to find a way around them if they are going to break the law. For them the entire road must abide by the speed limit... the left lane being no exception.

Strictly speaking, this is the law. People choosing the left lane don't have a free pass to drive over the speed limit under any conditions. However, the left lane has a reputation for a reason, that I argue has practical purposes. Take speeding out of the picture and the real reason people get annoyed is that there is no courtesy for people who want to get by. Not everyone should be forced to drive the speed limit on the road (some may choose to drive slower...) and for those that choose not to they should not block the driving style of others who may be more comfortable driving at higher speeds.

Bottom line here... leave the enforcement of the law to those who are paid to enforce it.

Life in the Left Lane, Part 4

Theory #4 - Ego / Power Trip

Now this theory is meaty. I'm having a hard time explaining this though, because it's just slightly different than a few of the upcoming ones. This gist of the ego / power trip theory is that drivers in the left lane feel entitled to be there. For them, the world exists of only one person and the rest of the drivers are simply a swarm of annoyance.

You can recognize these drivers when you pull to the right to pass them. When you get about even with them they suddenly find the accelerator and speed up to prevent you from passing them. There could be a line of cars 5 miles long behind them, but as long as they are leading the pack their egos are happy.

I think the bottom line here is that the people who fall into this group care about only one thing, themselves. (I bet if you ask most people who are annoyed by left-lane drivers they will cite this as the reason for the behavior.)

Alas, people are complicated creatures. While this may explain some of the behavior there are always other reasons.

Next up, Theory #5 - Social Justice.

Life in the Left Lane, Part 3

Theory #3 - Cruise Control

Alright, we've talked about political activism, and highway exit and toll logistics. This next one makes sense when you think about it. We've all done it. Cruise control helps you save gas, right? Well it's also really only useful on long stretches of road with minimal traffic. You know the drill. You're cruising along keeping up a good pace, when you get close to a major city. Suddenly the traffic gets thicker, and you have to click the cruise control off to keep from driving into the car in front of you. Sure you can move to the left to pass, but at some point you'll run out of lanes.

Here's the catch. Some people use cruise control not to help save gas for long distances, but just because they can. So to pass the guy in front, they maintain the same speed and hope to pass in the left lane without taking their car off cruise control...and they don't pass very quickly (unless the guy is going absurdly slow.) The result is that they hang out in the left lane much longer than if they were actually increasing their speed to pass like everyone else.

So you're a democrat, that can be forgiven. You have to exit or pay toll, understandable. You have your car on cruise control and you're too lazy to turn it off so you can pass quickly? Idiot.

Next up, Theory #4 - Ego / Power Trip

Life in the Left Lane, Part 2

Theory #2 - Left-lane exits and EZ Pass

Maryland is one of the few places where some of the exits for other roads are actually on the left side of the road. I'm not sure why some exits are like this. Most exits are on the right side. While the impact of left exits isn't always readily apparent, in the context of the current discussion it may be more obvious. For those who ignored all of the signs telling them the exit was on the left they make a dive across all lanes of traffic to get there (slowing down all lanes of traffic and not just the left one!) On the other hand, for those anticipating the exit they often hang out in the left lane until they get there. The end result is that the left lane quickly get congested.

But left-lane exits are not the only reason you may find people on the left side. EZ Pass, a system designed to make toll collection easier for drivers on the I-95 corridor, has lanes on the left sides of the toll plazas. While many EZ Pass drivers have signed up to make traveling through the toll plazas quicker, there are many who just don't want to dig in their pockets for loose change. As with the left-lane exiters, EZ Pass just adds another reason to be in the left lane.

Both of these factors help to explain the left-lane driving when you are either near a left exit or a toll plaza, but not when either of these are no where to be found. I would hazard a guess that those annoyed by the person driving in front of them without moving over would not be annoyed by these circumstances. After all, once arriving at the exit the person would no longer be in front of you, right?

While this theory has some tangible merit, there has to be more to it than that. Stay tuned for Theory #3, Cruise Control.

Life in the Left Lane, Part I

Prologue

Back when I started this blog I was intending to write an essay of sorts to explore my theories about why people so often drive in the left lane. I have now spent a good portion of my life driving on the roads, and many of those on Maryland roads. This almost ever day experience has given me time to reflect on why people do what they do.

I'm not going to lay it all out there at once, but I'm going to break it into parts, each one focusing on a different theory. So settle in and get ready to read some insightful brilliance about social behavior at its finest.

Definiton

To adequately explore this we need to understand exactly what it is that we're discussing. Left-lane-driving is when a person drives in the left lane with a line of cars behind them. They make no efforts to move to the right to allow quicker drivers to pass. Many left-lane-drivers will drive at or slightly under the speed limit, rarely driving any significant speed over the posted limit.

*Do you agree with this definition? Help me to refine it to make it better. Post your comments.


Theory #1

Let's start with my most ridiculous theory: Driving in the left lane is a reflection of one's political persuasion. At some point I considered whether Maryland's historical love affair with the left side of the political arena may possibly be seeping out into its citizens driving habits. "Choose the Left" became more than just a belief. Maryland drivers chose to display their political preference more publicly by choosing the left lane to drive in.

Obviously this theory doesn't hold much water. If one's politics affected driving preferences you'd expect to see the behavior more predominantly in States that were liberal. My experience tells me that left-lane-driving occurs in many States regardless of the prevailing political sentiment.

Theory #1 appears to be debunked. However, there is no empirical evidence to discount it completely. If anyone is interested in doing a study, check how your State voted in the most recent Presidential election and then observe how often you see left-lane drivers in your State. Post any results here.

Upcoming Theories:

Left-lane exits and EZ Pass
Cruise Control
Ego / Power Trip
Social Justice and Equality
La-La Land / Distracted
Caught in the Current
Is Big Brother watching?
Quest for stability
Keeping up with the Jones'
Limited space
Lanes mean distance

More?

Fort Wayne, Indiana

One of the great benefits of having roommates and friends who work for the airline industry is the occasional free ticket. Before Todd left he was gracious enough to give me a ticket to fly anywhere Southwest flies. The "luv" airline certainly showed me some love this weekend for a quick trip to Indiana.

I had promised my friend Justin that I would come visit in October. I hadn't planned on October being as hectic as it was. I was determined not to make a promise I wasn't going to keep, and I figured this weekend was time to make good. I left the nice beautiful weather of Baltimore for the rather blustery and frigid weather of Indiana. (I'm told the weather was nice there until I arrived. What's that supposed to mean??)

Justin made the two hour trip to Indianapolis to pick me up. We met up my former roommate, Jon (#18) who had been in Indiana campaigning. We had a very nice dinner at McCormick and Schmick's.

Notice the Colts emblem in the background. Did you know the Colts were originally a Baltimore team? After assuring the people of Maryland he had no intention of moving the team, the owner Robert Irsay moved the team in the middle of the night. Scandalous! Needless to say, the people of Baltimore aren't so into the Indianapolis Colts.

There are a few things that I look forward to every time I am Indiana. At the top of the list is a visit to Steak 'n Shake. They have some of the best hamburgers and shoe-string french fries in the country. They also have a side-by-side milkshake. This trip featured a new milkshake flavor... egg nog!


The highlight of the dining experience wasn't the food. Check out the menu and see if you can spot the funny.

After the food we went back to the house to pick up Kent. The three of us went to the Fort Wayne Botanical Conservatory. None of us had ever been there, and being inside a greenhouse on a cold day seemed like a reasonable thing to do. Plus they had an "Under the Sea" exhibit with mermaids and fish! Oh baby!

This tree stood guard over the entrance to the gardens. Kent, a practicing dentist, made sure to point out that this poor guys teeth could use a few whitening sessions. The tree... not me!

How do you make a garden an undersea experience? How about some seahorse topiaries? Throw in some inflatable fish and a bubble machine and you're just about there. They had a scavenger hunt of sorts that the kids could do to find all of the decorations they had laid out in the garden. If the plants hadn't been there I would have thought I was swimming in a dry ocean!


There were two other sections of the garden, the tropical rainforest and the Sonoran desert. Hmm, Hawaii and Arizona. Why did everything seem so familiar? I had some major deja vu. Here we are in the desert section.

After the gardens we headed home, but not without taking a quick tour of Fort Wayne. I'm told this is not the original fort built in the 1700's. If you can't tell this picture was taken from inside the car as we drove past going about 120mph in the Dodge Charger.


Later that night we went out to eat with Chris and Ben at some Italian place. We then topped off the night with a game of Phase 10. Just look at how much fun Justin is having! He sure likes his cheese.


For a quick weekend trip I had lots of fun. Justin has made some wonderful friends, and I was fortunate to grow my circle of friends as well. I just wish it wasn't so cold while I was there.

Amazing hi-def wallpapers

Check out this website for amazing hi-def wallpapers. If you have a MacBook Pro they look awesome on your desktop!

http://interfacelift.com/wallpaper_beta/downloads/date/any/

Oh, and here's a link to Dav's Blog where he talks about "Dav night" from last week:

http://travelindav.blogspot.com/2008/11/mexican-food-and-pool-hall.html

8th Annual Pumpkin Carving Spook-tacular!

Every year since I moved to Maryland I have carved pumpkins. When I finally bought a house I hosted a party to allow others to join in the fun. Besides the 4th of July I think Halloween is my favorite holiday. You can carve pumpkins, ask strangers for candy, and dress up in funny outfits. Besides all the kid stuff, I just really think it's cool that we can still trust people enough to go around and trick or treat. How sad that this tradition is fading away as we get more suspicious and fearful. I'm trying to keep the flame alive, and not just in the jack-o-lantern.

This year I decided to try to make pumpkin soup. Yeah, not so good. The recipe I tried asked for apple cider and apples in addition to pumpkins. You could taste more of the apples than the pumpkins. I knew it needed something, but couldn't figure out what it was. Oh well, I just added a dollop of sour cream and garnished with chives. Not horrible, but I think it needs to be modified if I try it again. If Mariko was here I'm sure she could have salvaged my poor attempt at soup.


Of course, soup was not the purpose of the party. We carved pumpkins! I provide the pumpkins every year. I even have the tools and templates for everyone to use. I got these cool plastic / cloth disposable table clothes that I spread out on the floor. Everyone goes at it, then I simply roll up the table cloth and throw it away with all the pumpkins guts tucked neatly inside. Brilliant!

This year was, in my opinion, the best. Everyone brought their "A" game for pumpkin carving. The jack-o-lanterns are simply amazing. Peter made a pumpkin with innards coming out of its nose. Janice spent hours working on her dragon, which I think wins this year's prize for best jack-of-lantern. See for yourself. You can also check out more pictures at Dav's blog: http://travelindav.blogspot.com/2008/10/pumpkin-carving-at-arronsphiladelphia.html


I have already decided what I'll do for next year in Australia. Let's hope they have pumpkins.

Woot... and snap!

A friend told me about this cool website called woot! Basically each day they offer some cool item for a discounted price until they sell out. They also must employ someone with a wacky sense of humor, because the descriptions of the items are pretty off-the-wall.

They've had enough interesting deals to keep me going back for more. If you happen to have a moment go and check them out. Maybe you'll find something you're willing to spend a few hard-earned bucks on.

Iron Chef Night

Let me start out by saying that I'd like to dedicate this post to Mariko. I look forward to reading her blog because she makes eating food seem both like an art and an event. I love how she loves food, and more importantly takes the time to enjoy it. Way to go Mariko.

This last Wednesday my friend Dav called me up to say he was in town. I randomly suggested that we have an Iron Chef night. I've done this a couple of times before, but in my version I find something in my kitchen that has been there for a while with no hopes of being used in the near future. Rather than waste food, the challenge is to find something to do with it. Dav agreed to the experiment and we raided the cabinets for the "secret ingredient."

I decided to modify the challenge a bit to further expedite the goal to consume aging food. We had to take an item from each of my shelves and then find a dish that would use all of the ingredients. This is what we came up with: diced tomatoes and peppers, couscous, chicken from a can, craisins, artichoke hearts, and parmesean cheese (from the fridge).


Now, these are pretty normal ingredients. We're not trying to make something from, say, fish eyes or pig hearts. I have two cookbooks that I got for last Christmas (thanks Grandma and Holly), and we have an internet connection. I set Dav and Peter on the internet to find recipes, and Dave and I grabbed the cookbooks to start our search. I found a recipe for a stew and some stuffing. In the end, Peter won with Onion And Wild Garlic Quiche With Parmesan In A Couscous Crust I was intrigued by the innovative use of couscous.

I sent Peter and Dave out to get a few ingredients we didn't have (i.e. onions, garlic, cilantro) and also some salad to go along with our dish. I made the couscous, and then the crust. Dav mixed together the rest of the ingredients, and BAM! We had a dinner. Dav was quick to point out that some of our ingredients, such as the mustard, were a little bit out of date. Come on, who hasn't used mustard that expired over a year ago. Does anyone check the expiration date on condiments anyway? Serious. Of course he had to post about it on his blog as well.

Here are a few extra pictures of the process:

The couscous crust (I doubled the recipe since there were 6 GUYS eating this:


The final product just prior to putting it in the oven:


The final product after cooking:


Dav commented that we could have done without the craisins. Peter also suggested that we minimize the use of onions, which after eating this was a bad choice. Chicken, couscous, and eggs don't have much flavor... so the onions would have helped it not be so bland. I didn't add nearly enough seasonings to make this work. More salt, more onions, and perhaps a nice sauce would have made this superb. I liked using couscous as a crust though, but be careful not to make it so thick it becomes the main part of the dish. I also thought salad went very well with the quiche.

Here is a side-by-side of our final plating of the Iron Chef attempt with the picture from the recipe. Notice the picture from the recipe shows way more onions and also tomatoes on top. I think more veggies in the quiche would definitely make a nice touch.

Ghetto Popeye's

My roommate told me to blog about this, so here I go. Tonight I picked up Dav from his house so we could hang out. He's not in Baltimore all that often and it's nice to see him when he's here. I decided that we should go play duck pin bowling in Towson. However, the first order of bui-ness was to get dinner. Dav said he had been craving Popeye's spicy chicken all day, so I was happy to oblige. We still had the Transmorphers movie we rented for my birthday shindig anyway and the Blockbuster was right next door.

When we finally pulled up to Popeye's there was note attached to the order kiosk that said the speakers were broken and to drive to the window to place the order. I had sat at the kiosk for about a minute or two before I realized there was a note with instructions for customers. I drove forward having decided on the chicken strips, and Dav opted for a 3 piece meal without the drink. We waited behind a truck for another couple of minutes before a female employee walked past the car to deliver food to another car waiting in the parking lot. She then stopped at our car to take our order.

We gave the nice lady our order, when she quickly interrupted me to inform me that they didn't have chicken strips. I counter-offered with chicken nuggets. Nope, none of those either. She then recited off a list of what else they didn't have. Pretty much no soda, and anything else I had wanted. They had Dav's 3 piece meal. I reluctantly agreed to get chicken with bones.

What kind of crazy chicken place doesn't have boneless chickens? You might think I am getting worked up over something not worth the effort. Nay, this is the 2nd time this has happened! I was at another Popeye's in Woodlawn when they told me they had no chicken! WHAT? I may be a bit simple minded here, but how does a chicken place not have chicken?

We quickly got our nasty bone-filled greasy chickens and headed home to fill our stomachs. I was disappointed to say the least. The buttery biscuits were quite good.

I know times are tough, but come on Popeye's... get some chicken!

Transmorphers: The best bad-movie birthday movie ever

I recently had another birthday. I seem to have them every year around this time. These last few years, though, I've made something of tradition of the annual celebration. I rally up the friends and head over to the nearest Fuddrucker's. In my family, the kid celebrating the birthday got to choose where to have dinner. I remember several times asking for the Fudd, mostly because they have diced onions. I'm not sure why I love diced onions so much, but I do. Enough questions already. Since moving to Maryland I have gone to Fuddrucker's for my birthday at least 5 or 6 times. I'd say the tradition is getting pretty well entrenched.

Several years ago I added another layer to the festivities. After consuming the tasty meat sandwiches we head to the homestead to watch a bad movie. Bad, in the sense that it has to be something you would not normally choose to watch (not porn, or anything you'd have to talk to a priest / bishop about.) Here's a list of what I can remember watching so far:

2002 - Killer Klowns from Outer Space
2003 - Attack of the Killer Tomatoes
2004 - Night of the Lepus
2005 - Stewie Griffin: The Untold Story
2006 - No movie
2007 - No movie
2008 - Transmorphers

So this year, after Fuddrucker's we took the trip over to Blockbuster Video to pick out a movie. On the spot I decided to let the others in the party join in the fun of the movie selection. We made a game of it. Everyone had to choose the one movie they thought was the worst in the store. After 5 - 10 minutes we would meet up again and determine which movie was worthy of the honor.

I selected A Day Without a Mexican, and Fronterz. Since it was my birthday I felt I got to pick two. Peter picked Son of Kong. Tommy picked some kind of biker chick movie. Dave picked one of the Thomas the Train series. All rightful contenders... but when Carlos presented Transmorphers, we knew we had a winner.

I can honestly say this was the worst movie I have ever seen. Had I not had the peanut gallery to make comments in MST 3000 fashion, I would have shriveled away in despair. About 20 minutes into the movie the soundtrack messes up, so the dialog is 5-10 seconds off. Add in a society of lesbian commanders and missing special effects and you get more of an idea what kind of quality movie this is. Some of the special effects (i.e. the radar graphics) were like watching some games I used to play on the Atari 2600. Not only that, but most of the acting was worse than a porno made by high school drama drop-outs. Uhm, I mean what I hear the acting in a porno would be like. I'm telling you, this was bad.

Of course, I had to own it. Today I was at the mall taking back some pants that were too tight, and getting some film developed. (What is this the 1980's?) I wandered over to the FYE to see if there was anything worth buying. Having seen Ironman twice, I knew I was going to buy it. Luckily, the movie was marked down to $19.99, and came with a $7 rebate. Not bad. I then thought, "If I'm going to get one movie I might as well buy Transmorphers." I looked around the store to see if they had it, and wouldn't you know it, they did. Tucked away behind the orphaned stacks of Transformers were two copies of this abysmal cinematic event. One was new, for $12.99, and one was used for $5.99. I obviously opted for the used version. I'm almost positive it wasn't viewed more than once.

What I didn't know, until I got to the check out counter, is that if anyone bought a sci-fi movie with Ironman they also got $5 off that movie. YES! You read that right. I got Transmorphers for $0.99. If you count in the rebate I'm getting, they actually paid me $6 to take the movie from them. How cool is that? I'll post a picture of the receipt as soon as I can get one on here.


When I was checking out the guy told me he had watched it as well. He said, "You know it's going to be bad when it is written, directed, and edited by the same person."

So if you can spare 85 minutes of your life to throw away on a good laugh, go check out Transmorphers... but please, watch it with your wittiest friends. After you do, make sure to join the Facebook group called "The Few, The Proud, Those who have survived Transmorphers"

Proposition 8 video

I seem to be on a political soap box lately. I'm afraid that this post is no exception.

I got an email recently that said, "Hey everyone please check out the link on this video. It is so disturbing, it was just shocking!!!!"

I was intrigued. What could be so horrifying. The email was a forward, so here are some of the other comments:

"This is a amazing video, it goes well with Proposition 102."
"Many of you may have seen this already.....it was sent to me by two different people. It is scary what will happen if we don't vote YES on Prop 8.......watch........"
"A friend of mine sent this to me and I thought it worth passing along."

So by this point I know it's a political forward, and it has something to do with Proposition 8, which isn't on the ballot in our State. Then I get to this part:

"Regardless of your personal opinion on same-gender marriage, this issue will affect your children, or the children of someone you love. Each of us should have the right to teach our children about moral issues in our own way, in our own families, without the State getting involved.

If Prop 8 fails, all schools, both public and private, may be forced to introduce homosexual behavior - in the name of diversity - as early as Kindergarten. Watch the video below to see a scenario we may all be faced with in the near future. Please vote YES on Proposition 8. Your vote counts!"

Ah, now we're getting somewhere. This is an anti-gay marriage video message. I don't normally look at political videos, but I figured I had nothing else going on so why not. I watched the video, which said the following:

Voting no on Proposition 8 will allow gay marriage to happen.
Other states (i.e. Massachusetts) have passed gay-marriage laws and are already experiencing the effects of it.
For example, if gay marriage is legal then schools will have to talk / teach about gay marriage.
Since Kindergartens are part of school, children attending them will be taught about gay marriage.
If kids hear about gay marriage they will be gay.
Parents who choose not to allow schools talk about gay marriage will be put in jail.
Schools hate parents.

This may be an oversimplification, but I think I got the message right. Here's my problem, there's a HUGE flaw in this logic. Proposition 8 says NOTHING about schools. You can check for yourself. I went and looked up the text of the Proposition. Didn't see school, education, teach, etc. once. I did see an amendment that says that marriage will be defined as a union between a man and a woman. Not only that, but this video is actually saying (without saying it directly) that schools are going to teach kids to be gay in kindergarten. Huh? Did I miss something here?

I'm not saying that Proposition 8 is right or wrong. That's for the people in California to decide. What I am saying is videos like the one I received are propaganda designed to scare people with twisted logic. And more importantly, one of the last comments says that if gay marriage is legal then you'll have to talk about it with your kids. Are you kidding me? When did teaching your kids about the world become a bad thing?

When did schools ever take away a parents' rights to teach their children? I think parents give up those rights when they FAIL to teach their kids. As the saying goes, "If you don't someone else will." Like it or not, in our age of information children are going to learn anything they want to, from school or other kids... or heaven forbid the internet. As a parent you can choose to talk about something and help your child to understand your experience and view of the world.. or you can cover your ears, close your eyes, and pretend nothing is bad out there. You can even tell schools not to teach your kids anything about the world, but don't be surprised when they find out someday, because they will. The question is, will they be prepared and ready to understand it when they do.

Videos like this upset me because they talk about everything except the actual issue. I think I'm probably just tired of politics and moral fundamentalists dreaming up scenarios about what could happen and not talking about what does happen. Maybe I'm too much of a scientist, but since when did we go freaking out because someone says the sky is falling? I want to see a piece hit the ground before I make a decision that the end is near. (Though hopefully the whole thing doesn't hit the ground at the same time so I have time to prepare.)

Why aren't reason and logic part of our political and moral discussion anymore? And when did talking about something make it a moral issue? I thought morals were more about actions than words. You don't kill, you don't lie, you don't cheat... all actions. Words themselves, or discussions about topics aren't moral.

I'm interested to hear your comments.

By the way, I'm not posting a link to the video on purpose. I was indeed outraged, but obviously because the message of the video was taking advantage of people who would think with their feelings instead of their minds.

Congress listened!

Well, they kinda listened. What a cool thing it was that representatives voted down a measure that was practically a sure thing because of the feedback they received from their constituents. Listening to the media, you would have thought they were cows being led to the slaughter. I've had it with the media. They are painting this to make it look like the general public doesn't know what we're talking about. We're the dumb idiots who don't realize the implications of our outrage at providing billions of dollars we don't have to people who took a chance and lost.

None of what is on the media gets to the point of anything. More money won't solve the problem. We are a nation of debtors. We rely on credit today more than we ever have. The whole idea of credit is pretty ridiculous. I'm reminded of Wimpy on Popeye. He was always pleading for "a burger today, that I will gladly pay you for tomorrow." Sometimes you have to suck it up and actually work for something. (Here's an article published almost a year ago, which is oddly foresightful about our current mess: http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Global_Economy/IK21Dj01.html)

Beyond the credit crisis is a deeper crisis of leadership. All of the financial markets are now victim of a thing called fear. I'm amazed that no one sees the correlation between what Wall Street thinks will happen and the prices of the stocks they trade. When the media says the Congress is going to dump a bunch of money into Wall Street, stocks go up. When the bill fails stocks go down. Why? Because people make decisions based on fear. Wall Street is no exception.

What happened to the days when the president came before the nation and said, "We have nothing to fear but fear itself." Or "Ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country." Granted these sayings were both said by Democrats, and I hardly consider myself a staunch liberal. More to the point, both of these go beyond party politics. They reminded Americans that we are something more than the current crisis we face. We built this nation into what it is not by promising to make good on a debt sometime in the future, but by using every resource we had to make something work. We need a leader who will remind us that we can be better, that this too will pass, and that there is hope in our future. Most importantly we need someone who will do more than just pay lip service to our hopes and dreams.

I'm tired of the blame game and the currency of despair we face every day. No wonder people get discouraged by the news and politics. I think we all need to make a point to find something positive in our lives to remind ourselves that life is a beautiful thing.

Enough of my soap box. For those of you reading this, thanks for your patience while I have vented my opinions about these things.

Gunrichment

Yes, that's me with a gun. My mother would not be so happy. I wasn't allowed to have any type of gun as a kid. When I finally got a small Daisy BB gun that used a small pump you had to crank to build the pressure to fire the BB, you would have thought I had a semi-automatic unlicensed weapon. Never mind that I had injured myself riding an ATV and the BB gun was consolation prize. But that's a different story.

This weekend a bunch of guys from church packed up the cars and headed to Elks Neck State park in Maryland to fire some guns at a gun range. I haven't fired anything but a .22 at scout camp, and a shot gun once. I was looking forward to expanding my horizons. I brought along Peter, Tommy, and my roommate's brother, David.

All of the guns were provided by two guys, brothers actually. Now we're not just talking guns. One of them was a 50 caliber missile launcher of a thing. That's Tommy being the first one to man-up and fire the thing. You could feel the shock wave from 20 feet away. From what I heard, the gun has hit the target from up to 2 miles away, and was designed to take out engine blocks. How can you not feel a rush of testosterone after firing this thing?

Fortunately, the wildlife / engine block pulverizer wasn't our only option. I stood on the sideline for a while biding my time for the right moment. I was apprehensive about shooting these high caliber weapons of destruction, but eventually I stepped up to the plate. I'm going to loose some man points for not knowing, but I'm not exactly sure what kind of gun I was going to shoot. The guy loaded it for me, told me how to hold it and stepped back. I released the safety, took aim, and gently squeezed the trigger. Click! Nothing happened. Yep, the bullet jammed. I called the guy over and he took a look at it. I guess it's not a good sign when he says, "Well, I've never seen this before." Since I only pulled the trigger I'm pretty sure it wasn't my fault, but I felt bad for ruining this guy's gun. After that I wasn't too keen on taking another chance on either ruining another gun or having some other kind of mishap happen.

For the rest of the day I took on the name of "Jammer." Plus I got a few cool pics of me with a cool gun. Don't let the pics fool you though, I never got to shoot any of the guns. Dab nab it!

A letter to my US Congressional representatives

Rep. Sarbanes, Sen. Mikulski, Sen Cardin,

I have never before written to my representative about political matters. I feel I must write now to voice my opinion about the government bailout you are about to vote on. I, like many of those around me, feel this is an action that is taking advantage of the American people. While I do not want the economy to be worse for me or my friends and neighbors, I do not want to provide easy money to those who caused this mess.

This deal is bad all around. I'm sure you are already thinking about oversight of the spending, aid to average citizens, and salary caps for executives. Let me just add, that this money is coming from the people. When you vote please consider that you have been entrusted to speak for us. I realize you cannot speak for everyone, but as my representative I want you to know what I would like you to do... I urge you to vote against the bailout.

Thank you for taking time to listen to my voice. I wish you all the best as you work in Washington to make this world a better place.

What a crazy government we have!

I'm not sure if I can speak for everyone else in the United States, but the government bailout of the financial industry currently in the works is ridiculous. Our government is getting ready to give away our money (the government gets its money from the people through taxes) to a bunch of corporations. One report estimates the bailout may be as much as $700 billion!

Let's do some easy math. As of July 2008, the estimated population of the United States was 303,824,640 people. If we take the total money the government is planning to spend for the bailout and divide that by the number of people paying the bill...

700,000,000,000 / 303,824,640 = $2303.96

This is the amount each of us are paying for this! And where does this money go? To the same companies that are paying their CEO's and other corporate officers millions of dollars. What do we get out of this? Nothing, really. We will still have mortgages to pay, because the banks aren't going to suddenly decided that the money we gave them should go towards the debts we already owe them. We won't get cheaper insurance. In the end, we won't get any kind of financial benefit other than a "safer economy" based on the opinion of those spending our money.

How about the government gives us the money. I promise to go out and spend what they give me. I'll spend every last penny. The money will still go to the companies they are trying to bail out, but at least I'll have something to show for it.

Aurgasm

A few years ago I happened across a great website for music. Similar to a blog, Paul Irish uses his space on the web to share a variety of music with the rest of us. Through his site I've found some great songs and artists. Whether you're looking for some chill music to have on in the background, or some dance remixes of popular songs, you'll find something on his site. You can even download the songs he has posted there for free, without the fear of legal action by the RIAA nazi's. Take a walk into the eclectic at Aurgasm.

http://aurgasm.us/

What the... Why am I peeing blue?

My friend Cailin alluded to an experience I once had on her blog recently. This is one of the better pranks that I have had the fortune to be the target, so I guess I should share it here.

I attended school in Hawaii. My time there was split into three "periods." I went for two semesters before my mission, one semester after my mission, and then for four semesters after a break in Arizona. This prank happened during the second period in Hawaii.

My roommate at the time and I had made friends with several girls who lived in the Green House. The girls were awesome. For my birthday they found a pinata shaped like a fish and baked me a birthday cake. I was amazed at how considerate they were. Little did I know the birthday party was just the set-up.

A few weeks later they invited us over to their house for dinner. We had been a few times before, so didn't suspect anything unusual. During dinner they mentioned they had a special surprise for desert. You don't have to be around me long to realize that I have a very acute weakness for brownies. I was all too excited to find they had made a whole pan of brownies for us. Although there is no photographic evidence of this prank, truly a tragedy, let me try to paint a picture. We gathered in the kitchen to prepare the brownie-from-pan extraction procedure. Before sinking a knife into the chocolately goodness, I commented, "These look kinda metallic. Cool!" Hmm, you think that would be a sign for some people. Not me. I ate several large pieces of the laced brownies. I now realize that the girls were not just eating morsels because they were being girlish.

On the way home from the dinner / brownie surprise my roommate and I started having stomach cramps. We both commented on how a trip to the bathroom was clearly imminent. Still not connecting anything unusual to the brownies, we chalked it up to something from the dinner that was not sitting well. After a manly trip to the bathroom, the flushed colons provided enough relief to dispell any further suspicion, at least until the next morning.

Still groggy from an ordinary night of sleep, I made my way to the dorm bathrooms to take care of business. A moment into the ritual I noticed something that shocked me. My pee was navy blue. I found a picture of the effects of the prank on another blog:
(http://cre.ations.net/creation/body-mod---turn-your-pee-blue)

I could only wish my urine was the color in this picture! I had eaten so many brownies that my urine was a much more intense shade of blue. We're talking dark, dark blue. The initial shock of seeing something other than a more human color of urine leave my body lasted only for about 5 seconds. Fortunately I had heard my father tell stories about how he would prank his friends with urine dye in high school. After realizing what had happened I was actually enjoying the new color palate I had to paint the porcelain. My roommate later came to the room to ask if I had anything unusual happen earlier in the morning. I confirmed that we had both been punk'd.

I had eaten so much that it took about three days to clear my system. I can't remember how the first encounter with the girls post-blue-urine went down. I believe they timidly asked if we were feeling okay. I'm sure we tried to play off that we had no clue what they were talking about, but I probably bubbled over about how cool it was to pee blue for three days.

So, in case you are wondering, the secret ingredient was methylene blue. As it turns out the girls were considerate enough to call poison control prior to dosing us to ensure there would be no harmful side effects. After confirming with the operator there would be no major injuries or reactions, the operator inquired about what had happened. The girls responded by saying, "Oh nothing, we're just going to prank some of our friends." They noted enough of the operator's shocked reaction to relay to us before they hung up on her.

Where does one get methylene blue, you ask? Well, the girls found it as part of a fungicide fish dip at an aquarium shop. When I graduated I was given the remainder of the bottle as a present. Let me just say now, I've never been as good a prankster as my Hieatt ancestors have been. My retaliatory attempt at revenge was haphazard at best. I decided to mix some blue fungicide into a batch of enchiladas I had made. The problem with that is the filling is clearly blue, especially if you add the dye to the enchiladas directly after mixing the filling. Needless to say, the gig was up after the first bite, and the enchiladas were only a hit with the guys anxious to pee blue. (Nobody did.)

How did this experience become a topic of conversation on Cailin's blog? Good question. Turns out that while I was visiting the Temple's in Brooklyn over Labor Day weekend Iz found a bottle of methylene blue. He brought it back for me to add to my arsenal of mischief. Do I need to say that he was one of the ones eating the enchiladas?

Australian Ballads and Rhymes

My Grandmother bought me a nifty little book for my birthday in honor of my upcoming trip to Australia. I'm thinking I am going to take this book with me to keep me company during my time in another country.

I just happened to open it up tonight and read the first page. I thought I'd share it here.

"A Voice from the Bush"

"O! mihi praeteritos..."

High noon, and not a cloud in the sky to break this blinding sun!
Well, I've half the day before me still, and most of my journey done.
There's little enough shade to be got, but I'll take what I can get,
For I'm not as hearty as once I was, although I'm a young man yet.

Young? Well, yes, I suppose so, as far as the seasons go;
Though there's many a man far older than I down there in the town below -
Older, but men to whom, in the pride of their manhood strong,
The hardest work is never too hard, nor the longest day too long.

But I've cut my cake, so I can't complain; and I've only myself to blame.
Ay! that was always their tale at home, and here it's just the same.
Of the seed I've sown in pleasure, the harvest I'm reaping in pain.
Could I put my life a few years back, would I live that life again?

Would I? Of course I would! What glorious days they were!
It sometimes seems but the dream of a dream that life could have been so fair.
So sweet, but a short time back, while now, if one can call
This life, I almost doubt at times if it's worth the living at all.

One of these poets - which is it? somewhere or another since,
That the crown of a sorrow's sorrow, is remembering happier things.
What the crown of a sorrow's sorrow may be I know not; but this I know, -
It lightens the years that are now, sometimes to think of the years ago.

(Poem continues, but not here. You have to get the book to read how it ends!)

A sister for me?

Happy Birthday, Sis!

We have so many stories. Since it's her birthday let me share this one:

My sister and I are 11 months apart. "Irish twins," apparently. I wasn't even a year old when she became a part of my life. Like so many of my stories about my early childhood, I don't remember the events of this one myself. I don't know that we kids were that outrageous prior to gaining our own awareness, or just that parents tend to remember crazy details to hold over you when you get older. What a perfect scenario. Just remember some stories that are impossible for your kids to remember because they are too young, then repeatedly tell them and they have no defense!

So, anyway, the story goes that I was at home when my sister came home from the hospital. As a matter of introduction they set her on the floor with me. I had been playing with some kind of bottle (probably plastic, but who knows), which I promptly used to bump her on the head. My guess is that I had just watched the Knights of King Arthur and was merely christening her into my kingdom. She obviously didn't suffer major brain damage, and you only hurt the ones you love right? Hmm, maybe hurt is a strong word. I'm going with "love tap."

I believe this story has its origins in a picture my Mom took of the two of us together. The next time I have a chance to look at the 'ole photo collection I'll have to do some investigating.

My friend sent me a different kind of survey a while back. Usually you fill out details about yourself to forward onto others. This one had questions you answer about the person who sent it to you. My sister and I exchanged surveys, and these were our responses about this particular incident.

Amy's responses:

1. What is my name? (If you get this wrong you're fired!)Arron

2. Where did we meet? At home - you hit me with a bottle!

3. Take a stab at my middle name:Carl

4. How long have you known me? 31 years, and 2 1/2 months

5. Do I smoke? No

6. What was your first impression of me upon meeting? You were a meanie


My responses:

1. What is my name? (If you get this wrong you're fired!) Amy

2. Where did we meet? At a bottle factory. I saved you from a falling pile of bottles, but unfortunately one escaped and accidentally beaned you in the head.

3. Take a stab at my middle name: Lou, Sue, Lynn

4. How long have you known me? Since you came into this world.

5. Do I smoke? Only when you cook.

6. What was your first impression of me upon meeting? Who let a baby in this bottle factory? She's gonna get beaned by a bottle!

The Rusted Buoy

I went away to school in Hawaii some time ago. The beautiful island of Oahu offered not only an education, but a variety of experiences to grow from as well. One particular day some friends and I ventured down to the water's edge for a rest from our academic pursuits. Not far from the beach was a small island that had been set aside as a wildlife refuge. We saw others making the trek across the reef connecting the island to the beach, so we followed.

The little island was full of things to explore and discover. We slowly toured the island taking in all we could. We found all sorts of things that had washed up on the island's beaches and sifted through them looking for anything interesting. Eventually we came to a large shelf that was filled with water to about our ankles. We found many sea cucumbers, starfish, and sea urchins while walking along the shelf. After a few moments something greater caught our attention.

In the middle of the shelf lay a big, rusted buoy. We trudged over to the buoy to look it over more closely. We soon decided that it had been tossed onto the shelf when the waves had been much bigger. As the water calmed and receded the buoy was left stranded, waiting for us to find it. While inspecting our discovery someone suggested pushing the buoy back into the ocean. At once we were at work. We quickly rolled the buoy across the shallow pool to the edge. However, the edge of the shelf posed a much greater problem. The waves there were rough, and every now and then one would be big enough to crash onto the shelf. As the bigger waves would crash we would run away from the buoy for fear of being crushed under its weight. Not only would the waves stop our efforts, but they would also push the buoy further back onto the shelf.

We finally abandoned our attempt to free the buoy and it remained on the shelf. Despite the failure that day I succeeded in learning one of life's greatest lessons. Many people find challenges and weaknesses have become trapped in their lifes, like the buoy. With valiant efforts they struggle to overcome until, finally, they reach the edge where they are ready to cast away those difficulties. While the journey to the edge may seem easy, they soon find waves of frustration or failure pushing them back. The last step is sometimes the hardest to take.

I often find myself trying to cast off my "buoys" only to be pushed back. The more I live my life, the more I realize that I cannot do it alone. I have learned the way is much easier if I follow God, and turn to Him for help. While we must go to the edge and do all that we can to overcome, we can never truly free ourselves until we cast away our problems despite all that keeps pushing us back. I've found that just as the ocean reached past its bounds to place the buoy on the shelf, it can also reach past them to take it back.

(Modified from original story written in 1995. Posted here by request from Cailin.)

Writings

These past few blog entries have reminded me why I started a blog in the first place. I like writing. I have never thought I was very effective as a writer, but I figured practice would make perfect. I have been jotting down ideas I've had about what to write about next. Who knows if any of the ideas will ever be launched into this small space on the internet, but maybe they will.

So, I decided to look back through what I've already written and see if any of it was worth posting. The bulk of my writing was when I was new to the LDS (Mormon) church and is very spiritually oriented. There are two poems I wrote which kinda stand out at the moment. Just an early warning, most of my writing is unusually hopeful. Isn't that what religion should be about? I'm including one of those "The sun'll come out tomorrow..." poems and a goofy one.

Church "Hymns"

I've always wondered why there's only church "hymns."
Isn't it wrong to have no "hers" in them?
It wouldn't be much, just a line here or there,
to balance it out and make it more fair.
I'd even help. I'd pen a few words
so they'd feel wanted as we sing like the birds.
You know, it's amazing what this would do,
not only to hymns, but all the hers too.


Mud

When you're up to your knees in mud and it seems you can't go on,
take another step ahead you'll see it won't be long.

'Till the sun will shine, its light will fill your soul.
Soon the world will dry; look up, you'll see your goal.

There's heaven beyond. Look past this dismal vale.
Let your heart sing out, listen to it's tale.

Though the rains may come and the mud, deeper, may seep,
with every step you'll earn great blessings to reap.

Up to your knees in mud? Heart of pain and despair?
Step ahead, look up, sing out. Trust the sun will be there.

Can You Play?

I saw this on Cailin's blog, who saw it on Bettina Grange's blog and thought it was fun.

Here are the directions:

1. As a comment on my blog, leave one memory that you and I had together. It doesn't matter if you knew me a little or a lot, anything you remember!

2. Next, re-post these instructions on your blog and see how many people leave a memory about you. It's actually pretty funny to see the responses. If you leave a memory about me, I'll assume you're playing the game and I'll come to your blog and leave one about you. If you don't want to play on your blog, or if you don't have a blog, I'll leave my memory of you in my comments.

Labor Day Weekend with the Temple's

My friend Cailin is showing me up! I've been home from my trip to Brooklyn, New York (not to be confused with Brooklyn, Maryland) for a week already. Cailin has posted not one, but two entries on her blog about the adventure. You can check them out by clicking on the links below.

http://cailiniz.blogspot.com/2008/09/butterflies-trucks-and-whalesoh-my.html
http://cailiniz.blogspot.com/2008/09/labor-day-weekend-with-arron.html

She did a great job with her posts. I should just leave it at that and not say anymore, but I won't. I had such a good time. I enjoyed every moment I got to stay with Cailin, Israel, and the boys. Keahi and Jarom are growing so quickly. I'm amazed to hear Jarom talking since he was only about a year old the last time I saw him.

Keahi is as brilliant as ever. I read a few pages from a space book with him during my visit. I was asking him questions, not like a grown-up would typically as a child. You know, like, "What are the shiny things in the sky?" No, with Keahi I was asking him why Pluto is not a planet anymore. The discussion was more like two colleagues talking about the decision of the IAU to demote Pluto to a sub-planet status. He continued on with the irony that Mercury is still a planet even though it's smaller than Pluto. (NOTE: This is really not true. See the comments for more details.) He then told me Pluto has an irregular orbit thus complicating it's bid to be an official planet. Seriously, I can't make this stuff up.

We did make it to several New York attractions. The Natural History Museum, the Bronx Zoo, the Brooklyn Labor Day Parade. I should've got a picture of drunk-head-stand guy, but was too enraptured watching the police escort him out of the parade. For a moment I thought he was his own little parade party.

My boss had told me Friday before I left that I would be lucky to get to Brooklyn in 5 hours being the holiday. I actually made it in about 4 1/2. The drive back was an easy and uneventful 3 hours. I was surprised there was no where near the volume of traffic I was expecting.

Anyway, here are a few pictures from my end that I think capture the fun of the weekend holiday.

One of the few pictures of Keahi pushing Jarom in the truck. Jarom was so happy to push Keahi, and Keahi insisted on being pushed. Little Jarom was drenched with sweat when we finally left for the museum.

Israel was quite the gentleman and let Cailin ride up front with me when we went to pick him up from work. He had to cram in the space between the two car seats in the back. He did bring us sugary donut goodness for our trip to the museum though.

Typical Keahi! He gets so excited about specific things that he doesn't care about all the stuff in between. The highlight of the Natural History Museum for him was the blue whale, whale shark, dinosaurs, and meteorites. Honestly, though, what kid or adult isn't excited about those. Israel did teach me that sperm whales (seen here) aren't really threatened by giant squids. The injuries they get from them are superficial... only flesh wounds.

Cailin posted a picture of the smoothie stand in her blog, but how about a picture of Cailin at the smoothie stand. In case you can't tell which one she is, she's the Asian girl waiting in line.

I was surprised how much the Brooklyn Labor Day Parade was made up of politicians and local leaders. Here's Mayor Bloomberg and his entourage. His appearance makes sense, but the Attorney General and his posse?

The first exhibit we saw at the Bronx Zoo was the Butterfly Garden. The "guards" announce as you enter not to touch the plants or butterflies. Keahi, ever the brilliant one, decides that blowing on the butterflies is not actually touching them. Notice Jarom helping a brother out.

Keahi and Jarom were hiding in the folds of a fake tree at the gorilla exhibit. I guess Keahi is making sure Jarom is really hiding. I think he was halfway choking the boy. This was just after Jarom spotted me sitting on a waiting bench and made a beeline towards me shouting, "Uncle Arron!" How can I not love these kids?

No trip would be right if I didn't climb something. Notice Israel in the back taking a picture. If you flip back and forth between the two it's like you're watching the Matrix.

Apparently 3 adults, 2 kids and a stroller is too much for Skyfari. This is Israel and Keahi ahead of us on the ride. Israel was smart and got a video of the whole ride. I just took pictures. You can hear Keahi ask about Mommy, and if the cab would split open if it falls. We weren't as concerned about them. Oh no.

Jarom and I pretended we were on a wild roller coaster. I told him, "Jarom lift up your hands!" and he did it. He didn't ask, "Uncle Arron, what crazy thing are you making me do?" He just did it. What a cool kid.

Thanks Cailin and Israel for sharing your family with me.