Strangers are weird

When I went to see a movie today, I noticed another '08 Scion xB in the parking lot. So I parked next to it - in a show of 'sciondarity' (see what I did there?). Well, after the movie, the other Scion was gone and I found this odd note in the windshield wiper. Apparently 'Steve' is the owned of the xB I parked next to and he really wants me to go to the g2xb.com.

I did go there as requested, abd the site was actually pretty good. Most of the other Scion owner sites I've been to are saturated with pre-08 stuff, so it's nice to have a site completely dedicated to a single make/model of car.

But still, having some stranger leave a note on your windshield is weird. I mean, is this Steve going to start stalking me?

More fun during my time off

Since I started my 'staycation' this week, we have some some fun things as a family. We have visited Mt. St. Helens, gone out to eat a few times, and I even I spent a weekday out in service with Becky. But today I got to do two fun things. I went to see Indiana Jones and The Kingdom of the....*sigh*. That name is too long! I mean 19 syllables!? But you know what I mean. It was pretty good. I mean, it wasn't Raiders by any stretch, but considering Lucasfilm was involved, it was okay. At least was better that Episode I. What I liked best was this was the first Indy film (not to be confused with 'indie film' - which this definitely was not) that didn't get into the occult or any other kind of spiritism. Anyone who knows me, know I don't really go out for that kind of thing. It was ground firmly in the science fiction realm.

The other fun thing I did today was by Wii Fit! I had put it on hold at Gamertime a month or so ago, and those guys came through again. It's pretty neat, and it can even support a man of my, ahem, carriage. Maximum weight on the box is listed at 330lbs., so I am good for at least a few more pounds. Speaking of my weight, I also sat down and watched the DVD of the PBS special 'You on a Diet'. My doctor recommended it some time ago. I will try to put some of its' steps into practice. We'll see how it goes....

Day Tripper - Visiting the volcano

Our Arabic class was canceled this week due to the instructors illness, so we took the opportunity to go for a drive. We thought about going to Grand Coulee Dam, but that was over 4 hours away. So we went to the Mount St. Helens visitors center. That was only 2.5 hours away, and we could all get in for only $8. Becky and I had visited this exact same place when were on our honeymoon 15 years ago and it was kind of a bust. It was too cloudy to see anything and the exhibits weren't really that good.

But this time it was really cool (but also very hot - over 90 that day). The weather was perfectly clear and we could easily see the mountain 20 minutes before we even got to the site. And the exhibits has been greatly improved since Becky and I went back in 1993. You can see all the pictures on my Flickr page.

The Student has Become the Teacher('s helper)

Having been an observer in the WSIPC ASP Coord class twice now, it was my turn to assist with the actual training. Today was my prep day, where we imaged 15 laptops. Good times. We were supposed to have the room all day, but there was a scheduling conflict, and we had to ghost all the systems while another class was being taught (this the people in the front rows).

Arabic Class - Week 12: Marhaba!

I missed week 11 due to illness of a son of mine, but week 12 was a blast! We learned a few new things. We reviewed how to count up to twenty in Arabic, and then we learned the Arabic words for 30, 40, 50, and so on. With information in mind, we should be able to express any number from 1 – 99. We also spent a fair amount of time going over some scriptures in Psalms. Reading the Bible in Arabic is no easy task! The letters are small, and the vowel markings are incredibly tiny! Our instructor encouraged us to memorize where the scripture is in the Arabic-language Bible and memorize the scripture itself. It makes thing a bi less stressful at the door if everything is committed to memory.

We also discussion some of the finer point of contextual meanings as it relates to common Muslim phrases. For example, using the term salaam (‘peace’) as a greeting may endear me to a Muslim householder, but it may also alienate an non-Muslim Arab. At those times we may want to use the more secular marhaba (‘welcome’). I thought it was weird at first, but then I thought of how many words in English work the same way. An innocuous word voiced by one group of people may be considered fine, but from another group it may be somewhat offensive. It’s all very confusing, but I hope to wrap my brain around it in time.

From the twig of Toyota, a Scion is.

She was a good soldier, but her time had come.

I guarantee this is as clean as this car will EVER be

We got the new Scion today, and got out from under the Dodge Durango gas hog we were in. When we bought the Durango, gas was only $1.98/gallon. Now its' toying with being double that amount. So, even though we had $9K in negative equity on the Durango, we traded down to a small Scion xB. But since it was a much cheaper car, our payment was way lower. And with the MPG nearly tripling with the new car....oh man I am giddy with gas-savings induced excitement.

"Old and busted"

"New hotness"

Spring has finally arrived!

We had the first barbeque (well, technically we grilled) of the season! After some crazy weather in April, we were blessed with sunshine at last. I didn't hesitate to pull out the briquettes and fire up the Weber. Plus I got a chance to see how well my new camera captures fire. I think Prometheus would be proud.