Personality Test

Hi all - I know I've been a bit silent lately, but I was in China for two weeks of work.  I wasn't able to post for several reasons - the first being that I was busy and tired by bed time.  The second being that google and facebook are blocked by the government unless you have a VPN connection.  There will be more details on China in future post(s).

I haven't had time to compile everything, so in the meantime here is an interesting Japanese personality test.  I don't want to put any preconceived notions in your head, so I'll give a few more details in the comments.  But take the test before you look at the comments!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jTKqvpHfwgQ

Hopefully your 4th of July plans are taking shape and looking good.  I know mine are!

Domestication

My mom probably thought it would never happen, but I think I've become at least 15% domesticated.  Here is an example.  This is what my guest bedroom used to look like for several years:

Functional. You've gotta love the desk lamp I got for a high school graduation present.

This is actually an upgrade from what it was originally.  Until about five years ago there wasn't a nice sunset painting, and I added the rugs maybe two years ago.  I call my decoration scheme "spartan".

In the past month, I have purchased an end table, a lamp, and had a couple more paintings framed and hung so it now looks like this:

Ahhhh.....kind of relaxing, huh?

OK, OK.  I admit it.  The awesome desk lamp is still in the room.  TJ Maxx only had one end table that size and when I checked again on Sunday the smaller table that matched it was gone.

Tropical meets college dorm spartan.

It's almost inviting I think.  As long as you don't look at the other wall.

I've thought about putting up a curtain or maybe some bi-fold doors on the closet, but I just can't decide and kind of like the "open" look.  If you have any super great ideas on what to do about the closet, let me know.  Well, any great ideas other than moving the tools to the basement or the garage.  ;-)

It is a guest room, so feel free to come and visit and utilize it!

Normal Weekend

This past weekend was exciting mostly because I stayed home and did "regular" stuff like going to yoga class, replacing my rusted out mailbox, and transplanting some plants that accidentally got left underneath the deck and were growing through the deck boards.

Pre-transplant.

On Sunday I went to a couple graduation lunches for two robotics kids.  The evening involved my first paddle of the season.  Woo-hoo!

That is all.  Except for these pictures I took while kayaking.

The first paddle requires an obligatory selfie.

Large goose family.  Probably Catholic.

Look, a tree branch crossing the river.....with the help of a muskrat!  There were several muskrat sightings in fact.

Speaking of muskrats, that reminds me of a song....

Momma duck with two babies.

Have a lovely week!

Preparing Dagmar

The long memorial day weekend was memorable.  I flew to the western part of ND and drove to the eastern side of MT to hang out with Ananias at preps for a few days.  It was quite enjoyable.  I did a little bit of work, and we had some fun goofing around during our "free" time.  Some of these bullets may be a lot of inside jokes, but that's what happens when you go to see your sister.

1. Here at Dagmar........we're serious about our oral hygiene.
2. Preps is a great lesson in succession planning
3. Ananias was fully equiped with a yoga mat and a travel foam roller.  It's almost like we have the same problems.  Cousin Gary says you don't just lick it off the rocks.
4. When someone else is hogging the foam roller, using your metal thermos is an acceptable alternative.
5. Because I care.....that's why I'm making you feel terrible about yourself.
6. Suicidal pheasants - there were lots of these on the road!  I was super excited to see them, but I suppose if I lived there it would be like seeing a raccoon or opossum dead on the roadside here.
7. The competition was quite fierce during ping pong
8. I almost got to play stickball, but it was cancelled due to wind.  Maybe next time.
9. Ten o'clock bathroom yoga.  True story.
10. Uncle Menser says:  "Chee, I wear any size shoe doh"
11. Smoothies.

Ananias reminded me about this post and how clever I was back then.  Big sister from Big Sky country wear big glasses.  For some reason that really struck my funny bone when I heard it again.  I feel like this blog has lost some of its wittiness when I go back and read some of my older material.

Speaking of older material, my cousin posted on facebook some pictures of my grandpa's grave and gave a nice tribute to him.  She went there to place flowers for Memorial Day.  It reminded me of my first REAL blog post ever.  I thought I had said some nice things about him, but when I went back and looked it turns out I didn't.  But if I had written something, it would be to say that he was an amazing guy.  He was always very cheerful and upbeat even though life wasn't always rosy for him and included burying 2 wives, 2 children who didn't make it to adulthood, and seeing one of his adult children die before he did.

Some other more serious and memorable things:

1. Morning bible studies - they just do something to soften the heart.
2. Seeing some "old" friends (BDubs, Mo, CandJ Vig).
3. Getting to know Button, ML, AL, and the rest of the crew better.
4. Hearing stories from others of how they came to know God and how their faith is being strengthened in their lives now.
5. Being reminded again that we all have struggles whether we're young or old.  They aren't the same struggles, but we all still need mercy and love and encouragement in fighting our battles.

And finally!  We get to the pictures.  Like usual, I forgot to take many people pictures - and forgot to take one with Flat MelBMarvis.  She did make a brief appearance, but not when we were outside in the beautiful scenery.

Because they care there at Dagmar.

Stickball got rained and winded out, but this rainbow didn't.

Eastern MT has some beautiful scenery, especially in the spring when everything is green.

Somebody has good taste.

This wasn't the most beautiful scenery we saw, but it's what I managed to snap a picture of.  I never had my camera at the right time to get a good picture of a suicidal pheasant.

Ananias pumping some iron.  Here at Dagmar we're serious about staying in shape.

If only I had remember to get Flat MelBMarvis in the picture, it would have been perfect!

If you think this is where you claim your ski year, you would be partially right.  This is actually where you claim ALL luggage at the Williston airport.

"THE" gate.  It has two doors - one for United and one for Delta.  But the trail leads to the same place on the tarmack I think.  You get to use the stairs instead of a jetway.  I think this is the smallest airport I've flown into including all the ones I've been to in third world countries.

Thankfully some other people donated some people pictures:

Button - a new friend!

Straining the mixer motor by mixing natural peanut butter.

BDubs!  Hanging out with Sheldon.  He's not insane.  His mother had him tested.

Travel and Softball

Today was our first softball game of the season.  I'm already injured.  Plus, I agreed to play on a Thursday softball league as well.  So I'll have double the opportunities to get injured.  I wonder if this is a sign that the whole season will go badly?  Or does it mean I got my injury out of the way for this summer?

The injury isn't super serious.  I got hit in the back between my spine and left shoulder blade by a ball thrown really hard from the shortstop toward the first baseman.  But my back intercepted it before the first baseman got it.  The shortstop caught a line drive, and I was needing to tag up on first base.  As I was turning to go back to first base I could see that I might be in the line of fire, but it all happened so fast it was hard to know what to do other than try to make it back to first and hope it was low enough to not hit me in the head.  I'm very thankful it didn't hit me in the spine or the head - that would have been much worse.

I'm also going to try to make sure I ice and take care of this right so it doesn't turn into the kind of escapade that getting hit with a racquetball turned into.  I just got myself healthy!

Also, over the weekend while driving I listened to several travel podcasts.  A couple were on how to pack light and efficiently.  There was also an interesting one on finding your courage when traveling solo.  If you have an hour to listen and are interested in that one, let me know what you think.  Do you agree with what they say about how travel solo helps you learn about yourself?  Do you agree that for introverts it helps you come out of your shell, and for extroverts it helps you learn to be by yourself?  Are there other ways to learn the same things without traveling?  If you're a regular reader, I think you know I'm not against travel at all.  Are they over-selling the value of travel or not?

The website where I found the podcasts (thanks Uncle Bex) is called The Budget Minded Traveler.  Here are some links.

Ninja Packing Tips - Pack Light and Carry On:
http://thebudgetmindedtraveler.com/ninja-packing-tips-pack-light-and-carry-on/

Pack Light and Carry On for Males:
http://thebudgetmindedtraveler.com/pack-light-and-carry-on-for-males-featuring-travis-sherry-jason-moore-and-nathaniel-boyle/

How to Negotiate with Airlines:
http://thebudgetmindedtraveler.com/how-to-negotiate-with-airlines-with-sam-cornthwaite/

Connecting People Through the Transformative Power of Travel:
http://thebudgetmindedtraveler.com/nathaniel-boyle/

Find Your Courage Through Solo Travel:
 http://thebudgetmindedtraveler.com/find-your-courage-through-solo-travel/

Enigma and Mother's Day

When I placed my order at Culver's the other day, I realized it might sound like a strange order to some.  I ordered a hamburger without onions, but then I ordered a side of onion rings.  And I was the only person in the car.

Last weekend I was in my childhood area for Mother's Day.  It was a good weekend and probably the first time in 15-20 years since Mom had all 3 of her daughters home for that day.  There was also SM that day, so it was a good day.

Dad shaved his mustache off after having it for 40 years.  He looks a little bit different, but at the same time not really.  He looks more like my cousins without it.

Other activities included going to a bridal shower for one of my cousin's fiance, playing with my niece (going on a walk and giving a bike ride), and going to see the fancy new pig barn that BIL-Dan and Muggles have.

Here are a couple pictures from the weekend.

BIL-Dan grilling his inch thick pork chops.

Mom and Bill

Bill and Ananias

Photobomber Bill, Muggles, MelBMarvis, and Ananias

Muggles, Bill, Mom, MelBMarvis, and Ananias

BIL-Dan, Bill, and Muggles

Most of the family except my brother and his brood.  Even Sully got in on the fun.

Teaching Bill about photobombing early in life.

Pops (sans mustache) and Mom

The new fancy pig barn.

Oh, and my bad travel luck has returned.  The plane had mechanical problems in Fargo, so I sat there for an extra hour, which resulted in missing my connection when I got to Chicago.  So I rented a car and drove home from there - I got home at 2:00 AM and the next day at work was intense training on electromagnetic compatibility.  It took me most of the week to recover from that and halfway catch up on sleep.

Some Spring Stuff

This view amazes me every year.

Here are a few pictures I've taken recently of some of the spring scenery around here.  We had some beautiful sunny weather about a week ago, but the last week has been kind of gloomy.  We got all our April showers at the end of the month, and May is starting out with a few too.

Busy eating.

Not scared of me - I probably walked within 10 feet of these guys, and they just sat there.

Magnolia blossoms

More magnolias

Red winged blackbird

This kayak bondage is an outrage!

Accomplished

Remember how a few weeks ago I was on my soap box about how sometimes minorities need someone in the majority to champion them?  The Google doodle for today is for Hertha Marks Ayrton.  Shame on me, but I had never heard of her.  It turns out she was a very distinguished mathematician, inventor, and electrical engineer despite living in England in the late 1800's and early 1900's before women became more accepted as scientists.  Check out her biography on Wikipedia and notice that part of how she achieved some of her accomplishments was because other people in the majority helped champion her.  What always amazes me about those kind of people is how much they accomplished.  I'm in my mid thirties and feel like I haven't accomplished all that much.  I suppose that's the danger of comparing amongst ourselves.  We all have different talents, skills, and opportunities and live in different periods of history.

Speaking of accomplishments, I have some "old" blog post fodder to catch up on.  I did accomplish a few things last fall.

This was the mail pile at the end of November

This was the mail pile at some point in December.  The bad news is the mail pile right now is looking more like the first picture again.

Old kitchen faucet that was leaking underneath the sink.

Installed new kitchen faucet all by myself!

Just because.  This makes me laugh because it reminds me of my brother.  Are you kittens me?!?

Everybody Dies, But Not Everybody Lives

It was a beautiful sunny day here today.  Spring is here!

I saw this on facebook the other day.  I don't agree with all of it, but I still found it to be inspirational.  One thing he says is people don't choose dreams; dreams choose people.  I don't think I fully agree with that one.  God gave us the freedom of choice for a reason.  But we should use that freedom of choice to move forward, not to sit in fear.

While I was on YouTube, I watched a couple other of my favorite videos.  Just because they inspire me.

Someday maybe I'll be able to play this song on the piano.

This is a good one too....

Are you all inspired and stuff now?  As Dr. Laura says, "Now go take on the day!"

When The Moon Hits Your Eye

I have big news.  I recently paid off my home mortgage loan.  It hasn't quite sunk in yet, but it probably will when I get the official letter and the refund from my escrow account.  Now I suppose I should start saving for a new car so I can pay cash for that when I get around to buying a new one.

Also, somehow I injured my lower back while playing racquetball a couple weeks ago.  I'm not sure whether I just turned wrong and wrenched it somehow, or if it's from when I got hit right in the butt with a racquetball going at a high rate of speed.  My back was kind of sort of feeling OK a few days after the racquetball incident, and then I went and aggravated it by doing T25 three days in a row.  So now I've been on "rest and ice and reducing inflammation" for about a week and a half.  It's starting to feel better, so I'm working back into things by doing low impact stuff like yoga.  And getting massages.

Also, a couple weekends ago after I returned from The Pass, I drove over to Unca Bex's house for the weekend.  Saturday wasn't too strenuous - we went for 3 walks, baked some cookies, and played Ticket to Ride while kinda sorta playing Aggravation at the same time.  There were three people for special meeting company for supper and the night.

That evening Father Dan brought out his serious star gazing telescope, and we looked at the moon and saw Jupiter and five of its moons.

Sunday was special meeting.  It was special as usual.  I even got to see Cuz Windy as an added bonus.

Here are a couple pictures from that weekend.

The moon with the "naked eye" using my 30X optical zoom on my camera.

The moon through Father Dan's super powerful telescope.  It was amazing how much detail we could see in the craters and stuff.

Let's just say it takes one to know one.  This is the lunch preparation spreadsheet.  One sheet where you mark your sandwich fixings, and another page for Lunch Accessories / Other.  And it wasn't me who made this.  Just saying.

El Paso and Juarez

Hola amigos!  Last week I traveled down to El Paso and Juarez for work to visit one of our suppliers.  A place where hatch peppers abound.  That reminds me of a song.  Anyway, we stayed in a hotel in El Paso and went across the border to Juarez for day trips.  El Paso and Juarez aren't known for being the safest places around, but we didn't experience anything crazy.  But we weren't in the tourist part of town.

Actually, it was quite enjoyable.  The weather was in the 70's and 80's.  We ate good food (including lots of good Mexican food).  The hotel had a good breakfast.  I wasn't terribly overworked - I even had time to catch some rays by the pool for an hour.

That's really about all I have to say about that except sharing a few pictures.

In case you didn't know, El Paso is in a desert.  But....it's the only big city in Texas with mountains according to what I read on the jetway.

We ate here one night - it was very delicious.  It's actually east of El Paso in Faben out in the middle of nowhere.  Like for real.  We thought someone was leading us out to the boonies to steal our stuff and beat us and leave us for dead.  But there were still lots of people there on a Thursday night.

One of the best filet mignon steaks I've ever eaten.  I know I went wimpy since it was only 6 ounces, but I wanted to sleep comfortably that night.  I passed on the 2 lb T-bone steak (The Cowboy), but a couple of the guys we ate with went for it and actually finished it.

We ate here one night too.  They have delicious enchiladas.  With hatch peppers and verde sauce.

 

L&J Cafe - the old place by the graveyard.  It was a 45 minute wait to get a table even at 7 PM.

 

Look!  There's already a wall between Mexico and the U.S.

Speaking of a wall, I know Donald Trump is saying he's all about building a wall across the whole border.  I kind of doubt he's truly serious.  He has some business that involves construction, and I think he probably knows it's unrealistic.  Personally, I think it's a waste of time and money to try to build a wall across the entire border.  Have you been to the Berlin wall museum in Berlin?  There's a whole section of the museum dedicated to stories about how people escaped East Germany and escaped the wall.  Crazy things like people hiding in the engine compartment of a VW bug.  Human creativity, particularly in desperate times, will find a way around or through a wall.  That's my two cents on that.  Now maybe in large population centers like this it makes sense to screen out the people who aren't truly desperate or screen out the drug runners.  A wall across the entire length of the border though is silly.

On the way from Juarez to El Paso, we walked through customs so the van driver could take the quick route through the traffic.  It was kind of fun.  There is a $0.40 tariff to walk on the pedestrian bridge.  It seems like underkill.

Seen at the airport.  This cracked me up.