Car Accident!

So the day before my birthday somebody was nice enough to give me a gift. Here it is:

So I know this entry is over 2 months late but I told Dad I was going to post the pictures.

All of us were in the car. We were pulling out of our little apartment complex when this happened. We had to cross a busy road and there isn't really a safe way to do it unless you take a right, go down the road a ways, and if you get lucky flip a U. I thought I could go so I started. Another car showed up so I stopped. The car behind us thought we went and gunned it, thus hitting us. For being so close, he hit us hard. It was a couple of "punk" dressed kids but they were surprisingly good about it all.

Well, now it is fixed. It may have possibly fixed our alignment issues too because the last time we checked it is much better. Before it couldn't be fixed with shimmies, now, apparently, it can. I will have to show you the difference later because I don't have the information with me right now.

Did You Know?

Take a close look at this picture.

Was I the only one that missed that Nathan had a go-tee? The funny thing is...

I was THERE!

Lost and GOTTEN!

So several weeks ago we were up visiting Grandma and Grandpa Winston's. Amanda was preparing for the day in the bathroom. Ella was helping by watching her rings. She had them in her hands and was going towards Amanda when she stumbled. One, or more, of the rings flew out of her hands. One of them, yes, it would be the wedding ring, landed in the air vent that comes out from the floor. This air vent did not have one of those 'traps'. It was just a tube that acted like one of the slides you go down at a waterpark.
I tried reaching my arm down to get it. I was able to get my entire arm down put the angle was too steep. The ring slid further down than what even my "monkey arms", as Nathan once called them, could reach. We also tried a vacuum. It was Grandpa's idea and was a good idea, but didn't work. Luckily they had a crawl space. It was quite clean down there. I ended up having to undo the tubing from the vent and retape it back up. Anyways, here is some pictures of the experience.

Christmas is Coming!

Ok, I admit, I have been a bad boy this year. With Christmas coming up and all I don't expect much. It is said when you are a bad boy you get a lump of coal. If that is what I deserve so be it. Since I am admitting, and not denying, my bad behavior this past year I think I should at least get to choose the lump of coal I should get. Besides, I think I have a good record up until now. So Santa, I have gone to the liberty of taking a picture of the lump of coal I would like. This picture can be found below.

A 55 pound lump of coal from the Titanic. Cost: $500,000.

*Did you know that the only artifact you can actually buy from 'Titanic' is coal?

Participation REQUIRED!

What is this look? You tell me!

Mohawks!

iWeb

I need some opinions. I have been exploring iWeb. I would like to know which blog format is preferred. Please state the one you prefer and the reason why. I appreciate anyone who would take the time to do this. Here is the link: http://web.me.com/jawinston/JAWinston

Gardening

This is our first tomato. Granted it should be the size of a fist, but that is beside the point. It tasted D-licious! The skin is tough though. We have also harvested two more since this one. They were both a bit smaller, one was even smaller than a grape. They both tasted good, the skin was still tough. There are a few more ready to be harvested, plus more growing.

We expect we aren't getting the size we are suppose to because of the fact of the scorching hot sun. While at the 'Barnes' Family Reunion' they missed out on some badly needed water. Yes, we did have somebody watching them, we aren't plant killers.

The zucchini and squash plants weren't as tough as the tomato plant. The stems were split and we ended up uprooting them and planting some more. Which took at least half the time to sprout as the earlier ones and are doing quite well.

Temples

On June 16 we decided to go on our monthly Temple trip. Amanda's Mom and sister were visiting so it worked out well. Danielle (her sister) watched Ella while Amanda, Sheri (her Mom), and I went to the Temple. We, being in the Jordan River Temple District and it being the closest Temple to us, decided to go there. We did not know that it was closed. At first we just thought the front entrance was closed, since that is what the sign said. It also told us to enter in by the back entrance. We went around to the back entrance and that is when we discovered it was closed.

Not knowing when another opportunity would arise to go to the Temple this month, we decided to go in search for another. Upon previous experience, I knew there was another Temple further West. So that is what we did. Turns out it was the Oquirrh Mountain Temple. (Anybody know how to pronounce that name? Please let me know.) Anybody recognize this Temple? It's new. In fact, right now is the Open House. This certainly would not do. Sure, it would be cool to go to the Open House but we weren't looking for that, we were looking to "attend" the Temple. So what did we do? Well, being in Utah and all, can you guess? We went in search of another Temple.

I knew the Draper Temple just opened but thought it was still by appointment only that you could attend. We decided that they wouldn't turn us away if we went so we did. The Draper Temple was on the opposite end of where we were. I had never been there but knew round about (very round about) where it was. I knew it was up along the mountains. I know, there are a lot of mountains here but let's give me the benefit of the doubt that I knew which mountains. (Even if I don't know the names of them.) I started heading that direction and could see something I thought was the Temple, but wasn't sure because of the lighting, it was during the early afternoon so "no" the Temple wasn't lit up like a beacon. Amanda called them and asked about needing an appointment and also the directions. (The address to the Draper Temple is a street name, not a grid coordinate, why they don't make things easy and stay with the grid system is beyond me, and my wife!) We were fairly close to it when she got them on the line. ...and given time I'm sure I could have figured it out. To make a long story short, this Temple was opened but... The next Session that was open wasn't until another hour or more and we had an appointment to get to that afternoon. We ended up doing some other work, which ended up cool because Sheri (Amanda's Mom) had some family names that she let me do.

All in all, I'm glad Utah has so many Temples and we were able, on the THIRD attempt, to keep our goal going strong!

I decided I wanted to add more.

One of my goals is to go to as many Temples as possible. I try to get the little Temple Schedules each Temples have available too. The Draper Temple's pamphlets were on order and were not available at the time so we'll have to go again, not just for the pamphlet but for pictures, to go other places in the Temple, and because it was just COOL! We didn't see the Oquirrh Mountain Temple up close, fairly close, only about a street away, but the Draper Temple is really stunning. I had the chance of walking around it. The houses there, oh, I mean MANSIONS, around the Temple are quite an eye catcher as well. The whole area was quite impressive, not unique for anywhere a Temple is placed though.

Everytime I type I don't feel like I get my meaning across and it bugs me. It is a big reason why I don't write/type more. I try to get over it though.

*DISCLAIMER* (I think that is what this is called.)

The pictures of the Temples were taken from LDS.org. Above the pictures of the Temples were directions on how to download the pictures themselves so I'm sure they are "ok" to use. I still wish I could put my own pictures up but alas, I didn't take any of the Temples. Yet, another project I would like to get done.

iPhoto

I have been working on iPhoto for at least 30 minutes a day, usually more, for a while now. I am trying to get it organized. What a PAIN! A suggestion for all, decide how you want to organize things when you FIRST start out. It is so much easier.

Alignment Issues!

So let me explain. The above is a diagram of our car's alignment. The green is good. The red, well, it isn't so good. I added the yellow "tire" to illustrate the problem. It is an over-exaggeration but it gets the point across. Let me start with when I took the car in.

I took our car to "Firestone" mainly for an oil change, and a general tune-up. Over $600 later I took it home. The tires were wearing funny. I noticed the outer edges of each tire were wearing out faster than than the rest on each tire. I knew we needed new ones soon but was planning on keeping them on a bit longer. The guy took me out and showed me the wear on them and explained why it was. Which was because of the alignment problem. I asked him how the alignment could be off so bad. He asked if we ran over a curb or something. It took me a while, a few minutes at least, and than I remembered...

The alignment problem started way back in September of 2008. We were going to visit Amanda's family in Royal City, WA when I decided it was fun to clobber a coyote. We turned off the highway and were less than a 20 minutes away from her parent's house. A coyote then thought it would be fun to jump out in front of us. What did I do? Well, I didn't swerve. No sir. Most animals decide to take a sharp left or maybe a sharp right but did this smart coyote do either? NO! He decided he would rather keep on a straight path and be BULLDOZED by a new 2007 Toyota Corolla! DEAD ON too! We hear a "clunk" and than a minute or two later, another "clonk" in the back passenger side of the car. It was late, around midnight or so. I kept on driving, thinking what good would it do to stop anyways.

That night I check it out. I didn't see anything but some hair underneath the car. The next morning Amanda's Dad noticed that the bumper was damaged. The damaged occurred under the bumper, where it is hard to see. (Thank-goodness.) With tape and some Gorilla Glue Amanda's Dad was able to fix it for us. (Thanks!)

Well, now I'll take you back to "Firestone". It is now April, just over half a year, when we discover the real extent of the damage the crazy coyote inflicted on our car. I asked how to correct the alignment problem and for how much. He said that they could put some shimmies into it to help straighten it out a bit, which would help but the number would still be in the red. (Refer back to the first paragraph.) This would cost around $75. Or, we could buy the whole part and fix the problem for a mere $400. The guy at "Firestone" said that if it was his car he would just shimmy it. Anybody care to put their 2 cents in? Please leave a comment.

We don't drive much anymore. Work here is close enough that I walk, now ride a bike thanks to Amanda's Papa. (Thanks!) So the car is usually just sitting. Because of this I decided to forgo both options for now and keep a close eye on things.

Quick up-date on becoming a Utard. Sadly, our Washington Tabs expire this month. This will force me to switch license plates and become a full fledged Utard. VERY SAD DAY! Well, let me show a little more optimism. It won't be too bad if I don't stay a Utard for long. I can experience being a Utard for a while, but hopefully only a very small handful of years.

"Utard"! Well, Not Quite.

Ok, so the other day I registered our Corolla here in Utah. (Here, you have to get a State Safety Test and an Emissions Test every other year.) Over $200 later, I am almost a full fledged Utard! I already have a Utah Driver's License from when I first arrived. (My Washington Driver's License expired within a month of moving here.) I haven't yet put on the license plates on because our Washington Tabs do not expire until the end of next month. I'm trying to put off becoming a "Utard" for as long as possible.

Thank-You!

I must type, I am a fan of how Apple packs their products! The small clear plastic box below contains a 1 GB iPod Shuffle, dock, earphones, directions to it, and the other paper product you get with all new purchases. It's not just the fact that Apple packs it in tight, but it is how they do it that impresses me. It makes me feel like I have a good quality, expensive product, (which it isn't cheap!), but still, I feel 'high class' in a way. Am I alone in my thinking?

Oh, and by the why, this is what you get in the mail when you agree for a 30-day free trial membership with... *Undisclosed Service*. Am I bad? I don't see why I would be, they offered, I took it. So to them I thank.

NBA

Tuesday night I went to my very first NBA game. President Chad Evans, of the Elder's Quorum was able to get tickets for cheap. I was able to get a ride with the Thomas's. There was a good number of us that went, 15+. We sat in two main groups. I actually was a deserter and never sat in my assigned seat. (Nobody was there when we arrived and I stuck with the Thomas's.

Aunt Pat has an add in the Jazz's Program that I showed the Thomas's. Pat was coming home from a business trip in Portland. The Thomas's were kind enough to go pick her up at the airport after the game and take her home.

The Utah Jazz played the Memphis Grizzlies. The Jazz won ofcourse. The arena, or whatever they call it, was impressive. They had a large remote blimp. They threw parachutes down from the ceiling, with small prizes. Streamers came down at the end of the game. The "Bear" mascot, for the Jazz, sling shot small basketballs way high. (If he aimed for me, he could have made it.) He was also a bowling ball and was slung across the court by three men. They were all on one end of the court, two of them were strapped to the ends of the bungee and ran as far and fast as they could while the third held onto the "Bear" mascot as long as he could. He would than let go and the Bear would fly across the court, on a slider.

I never really could understand the announcer, not because of the announcer himself but I couldn't understand what came out of the speakers. We had "aerial" view seats. (They were just a few rows from the very top.)

Looking down on the court and seeing the NBA players warm-up, play, stretch, etc. brought more a reality to the whole thing. I tried to put myself in their shoes, what would it be like to play a game for a living? Wierd! They get paid big bucks, even the "benchwarmers". CRAZY!

I have now been to a MLB and now an NBA game. Ofcourse they were not "big" games, but they were professional nonetheless.

NOTES: MLB team = Atlanta Braves NBA team = Utah Jazz