Spectator and player etiquette for Table Tennis Tournaments

If I were the one to define a proper standard it would be this:

1. Player Etiquette




• What's up with the fist making and the grunts? Shutup and keep your celebrations internal. It's borderline taunting.


• If you are warming up and you notice someone with a clipboard attempting to start a round at that table, stop your play and leave.


• Keep your coaching to a minimum. Anything longer than a minute is stalling, and any major adjustments that you aren't used to will just mess you up anyway.


• Keep the profanity under your breath or in your head. No need to spew offensive language at a family event.


• Feel free to compliment your opponent on a great shot


• Shake hands when the match is completed.


• Say the score aloud every time you serve.


• Be a good sport. If you don't look like you're having fun then it probably isn't.




2. Spectator Etiquette




• Clap for your player when they make a good shot, not when the other guy simply messes up.

I'm sure I'll remember a few more and add to this list. Send me you're own thoughts and I'll add them to the list.

2007 U.S. Nationals Tournament Results

Tuesday - Cathi picked me up at work at noon and we drove down to Circus, Circus in Las Vegas. We stayed in a nice room with two queen beds. We went to the buffet and was sorely disappointed. The food wasn't that good, and the price was terrible. ($13 per person regardless of age) Jacob was grossing me out. He had his plate literally piled up with unshelled shrimp. I've deshelled and eaten shrimp before, but not 2 dozen! He was acting like a caveman on the beach. Almost 1/4 of our entire trip budget was wasted on the Circus Circus buffet, but you have to live and learn!

Wednesday - We went to the Las Vegas Convention Center for my 1400 and Under Event. The kids were lively and even Cathi was excited. The kids started running down the huge hall that barely had anyone in it. We saw a security guy with a dog. The dog perked up when it saw the kids and Cathi running (I'm too boring to run for fun). The security guard yelled out "No Running". I wasn't sure if that was because he didn't want his dog to be distracted, or there really is a no running rule like at a swimming pool. I yelled out to Cathi, "No having fun Cath!". There were only three people in my bracket. I won one and lost one. DIDN'T ADVANCE

Thurdsday - After yesterday's event we checked in to the Wyndham Grand Desert Hotel. We were in the presidential suite thanks to Dad and sharing his time share points. The place had three bedrooms a nice kitchen, two bathrooms and a TV in every room. It was funny to hear three TV's in the house all watching Sponge Bob on the same channel with each kid in his own bed. On Thursday Cathi stayed in the hotel with Jacob and Jonas while I took Lucy and Austin. I had the 1600 and Under event and lost all three. I was ticked cause I could have one the last one. I was up 2-0 against this 8 year old chinese kid. I wasn't able to execute and he came back three games in a row. The thing that annoys me is that whenever the kid got a point (whether he earned it, or from a major screw up I made) about 20 people clapped on the sidelines. But when I gave an "in your face" slam on the kid, dead silence. I didn't perceive that I was coming across as the bad guy. I complemented every single player while they were playing on the great shots they made. In fact on the last point with that 8 year old chinese kid I was smiling and laughing because of the huge following he had, and I had none. Lucy was off playing and Austin was somewhere in the huge complex drilling and getting coached by somebody I didn't even know.
But I wasn't overly depressed about the loss, just disappointed.

Friday - Today Austin, Jacob and I played at the same time at 9:00 am. Austin and Jacob played in their 1000 and Under Event and I in the 1500 and Under Event. I couldn't locate my paddle so in a panic I went to one of the booths and bought a $10 yasaka piece of crap. Fortunately the first guy I played wasn't very good and I beat him 3-0 with it. After that match I ran over to see how the other boys were doing. Jacob lost but wast bouncing around as usual. Austin won his match and was happy. I told Austin about my predicament and he said "Dad your paddle is in my bag!". I was upset that he took my paddle out of my bag and put it in his, I told him "You're lucky I wont the match anyway or I would tan your hide." The next guy I played I beat 3-1. The last guy was the top seed guy for our bracket and he beat me 3-0. Austin lost to the top seed in his bracket too. Jacob lost all his games.

Saturday - I played in the 1700 and Under Event. But two of the four didn't show up so I only played one guy. He beat me 3-0 and the tournament was over for me. Austin and Jacob played in the 14 and Under and the 10 and Under events. These were both single elimination events from the start and both of them lost. Austin cried and cried. The entire tournament he would struggle as soon as he was down 4 or 5 points. He would start to get angry and then pout, and then cry. I kept telling him, relax, have fun, don't give in to the dark side, etc... He accused me of being a terrible coach and not telling him how to counter the loops and chops he was getting. I said, Austin as soon as you get control of your emotions, then I'll try to help you with your technical approach. If he can't relax and have fun, then he's missing the point.

In Summary:
Austin - 2 wins, 4 losses
Jacob - 0 wins, 3 losses
Gordon - 3 wins, 6 losses

The actual number of points that we will lose won't be discovered for a few weeks at usatt.org

We all had fun (especially doing non table tennis activities) and enjoyed the vacation.

Sunday - Saturday evening we drove to St. George. We wanted to drive all the way home, but Orbitz wouldn't let us cancel our hotel in St. George without paying for it ($60) so we decided to not waste it and rest in the Americas Best Inn. We went to church at 9:00 am at the Red Hills Chapel (St George 3rd Ward). Since it was the Sunday before Christmas it was 75% singing. After sacrament meeting we drove home and picked up the kids and went home. We learned that the Low family Christmas party was cancelled because Gransie had pneumonia and wasn't doing very well. The kids helped us unpack and we gave them a bath and put them to bed. Cathi and I started wrapping presents like crazy and Cathi got a call from Kris. Gransie had passed away.

We knew that she had wanted to go. The past couple visits I had with her she was not happy about living. I'm sure she is much happier and liberated where she is. We'll miss her sweetness, but know she is enjoying the company of many who are on the other side that we love.

Chris Isaac going Heavy

No he isn't gonna be on biggest loser. I recently found a song of his that was redone by a Heavy Metal group HIM. Wicked Game - That song was one of my favorites back in the day when I was at Ricks and life was so different. The cover of this song is great I thought. Vocals and right on and the guitar blend is perfect. If you're using IE and you can't play the mp3 - use firefox! IE sucks and you should have realized that by now.

Singles 2nd Ward

I preordered the Singles 2nd Ward and it came yesterday. After my swim with Cathi and Jacob I popped the movie in and and watched it with Austin and Jacob.
I expected it to be as silly and stupid as other of Kurt Hale's other films. This wasn't his best movie. Church Ball is his worst in my opinion. This one was just above that. At least I didn't fall asleep even though it was almost midnight.

Admittedly I did laugh probably 12 times (which is about double what I did with Church Ball). I thought Kirby Heyborne and Will Swenson did a good job acting and it seemed natural. The main actress didn't do so well. She's pretty, but her acting wasn't as good. One thing that has got to go....Private dialog between the main character and the viewer. That is so lame.

So I wouldn't suggest buying this movie. If you want to borrow it and watch it for free, that would be more appropriate. Kurt Hale's style has got to change. I'm done buying his movies cause they're all the same.

However I will definitely give Pirates of the Great Salt Lake a chance when it comes out on DVD. That one looks promising and it is written and directed by a newbie which is refreshing!

Cathi's "Music to my Ears" Christmas Concert

Here is the full 17 minute video (70 MB) of Cathi's concert we did yesterday. I'm definitely not the best accompanist there ever was! At least it was a dozen old people instead of Carnegie Hall.

It is done

************ W A R N I N G ************ Contains Graphic material

Went in on Friday for my "procedure" and it was worse than I thought it was gonna be. He gave me two shots of local anesthetic and immediately went to work. One of the shots wasn't very effective as I felt an intense sting and pressure as he was cutting away at my left vas deferens. The second side was fine, but it felt like he was digging around trying to find it and none too gently.

Cathi was right there a couple feet from the doctor sitting down watching everything he was doing. I wasn't in pain, but not really enjoying the moment to joke around. I was going to joke around and say "Hey Cath, it feels like my 'inards' are on my 'outards'!" Overall it was only about 20 minutes or so and afterwards was feeling fine. It took a couple of days to get past the point of needing ice or ibuprofen. Feeling fine now, just need to keep my guys close and tucked in nicely. Still black and blue though. Should be good enough to swim tomorrow.

We had a great time at the cabin. We played lots of games and watched a bunch of movies and it snowed about 6 inches. Enough to make me worry about getting out even with snow tires. But we got out just fine.

Home Prices in Utah

I glanced at an article reporting the best/worst cities in the world with the crappiest/best housing markets in the US. Salt Lake, N. Davis & Weber, Utah counties fared in the top 5 (out of 287 metro areas reported). That's awesome. Read the article here.

Doctored Christmas Picture

Yesterday Cathi took some pictures of the kids for this year's Christmas card. She took alot of pictures and there was one where 5 of the seven were perfect. So I went back and found pictures of the other two where they alone were perfect and I copied them from one picture into this new one. Here is the final product. Can you tell who I doctored?

Interesting read this evening

I need to change my home page when I open Internet Explorer. I recently installed IE 7 and the default home page takes me to msn.com. There was a picture of a black NFL player claiming that a "Black KKK" had taken another victim.

What? Black KKK? What the heck is that? My curiosity was spiked. I clicked on the image which took me to Jason Whitlock's article. Instead of reading the typical blame-the-white-folk article, Whitlock (who as you can see is also black) calls for African Americans to look in the mirror and realize that it isn't white people that statistically the ones pulling the trigger against black men.

That isn't to say that racism is extinct. But like Whitlock points out in his article, there is alot of poison that the black community is feeding itself. It was very refreshing that Whitlock is asking for more accountability. I also read alot of comments from others and there are quite a few people who also agree from the black community. Sure there are those that are in denial, but it is great to read the comments of many who have opened their eyes.

Review of SanDisk 1GB Cruzer Micro (U3)

Today I bought four SanDisk 1 GB Cruzer Micro's from Walmart for $18 each. I first noticed that it was preloaded with stuff which I didn't want so I formated the drive. It removed the preloaded stuff (so I thought). I started putting stuff on them. I started getting errors like "Path too deep" and "I/O error" when copying some jar and zip files. I didn't get this error on all the jump drives I copied data to. Just a couple.

I noticed that when I plugged them in that it also created a virtual CD drive with some crap on it. I reformated the drive again and noticed that there was still 4 MB or so that the drive didn't have free. I researched and found that the U3 launchpad needed to be removed using a special program found here -> http://www.sandisk.com/Retail/Default.aspx?CatID=1415
Once I ran the removal program, I was able to load the jar and zip files without problems.

Gotta love company's who try to preload all sorts of crap on my drives! Don't presume to know what I want! Anyhow - after I got that stuff removed I'm happy with the product.

Gridley Mission Statement

In our last Stake Conference and Ward Conference, President Brant stressed three things:

1. A family mission statement
2. Improved Temple attendance
3. Daily personal scripture study

I liked the family mission statement. We decided to go with the traditional Gridley motto which is in French: "Devant Si Je Pois" which loosely translated means "Ahead if I can". We changed its meaning from that to "Keep moving forward". This last week I made a replica of the Gridley Coat of arms and put it up on the wall and underneath it our family's Mission statement.

We sat the kids down and asked each one of them to come up with one attribute they thought was important to have. They each came up with one which we have noted and put some details of what each quality should mean in our lives. Here is a copy of the mission statement.


If you're curious about who came up with what:

Dad - Assertive
Mom - Service to Others
Austin - Flexibility
Jacob - Truthful
Lucy - Valiant in the Gospel
Jonas - Integrity
Isaac - Fun-Loving
Sam - Seek Learning (via Mom)
Oliver - Self Mastery (via Dad)

The kids didn't come up with the exact wording, but the concept they tried to express is the same.

Utah Open results for Gridleys

Austin and I played doubles against Carol and Byron Davis. Our goal was to get at least five points on at least one of the 3 games that we would play (assuming that we would lose three). We got 7 on the first game, 5 on the second and barely lost a deuce match on the last one. We were pleased. We almost won that last match. It was exciting.

We then played Helen and Gaav. That wasn't as pretty. Helen had a nasty serve which Austin had a hard time returning and those matches weren't as fun.

On singles Austin and Jacob both played in the C Division. Jacob didn't win a single match, but he was dancing around like he didn't care much and still tried, but had fun at the same time. Austin beat Jason and a few other people in his bracket and ended up taking third in his bracket just missing the cutoff for advancing to finals.

I was in a bracket with: Carol Davis, Sami Kergaye, Chris Collins, Jilin Guo and Scott (forgot his last name). I beat Scott 3-1, Chris 3-2, Carol 3-0, and lost to Sami 1-3 and surprisingly to Jilin 1-3. Because of that loss to Jilin (who was beaten by Chris and Carol), and because Chris only lost to me and beat Sami, I was like Austin just barely passed by on the cutoff. Sami and Chris advanced and I got to go home. I was disappointed.

I wish I hadn't signed up for the US National Tournament in December. My game isn't advancing the way I'd like it to. However for Austin's sake we'll keep going with it. But as for my lunch breaks. I'm going to go back to lifting. I'm done getting frustrated and worked up over table tennis. Maybe if I give it a break (at least at work) I can get build up my mental toughness as well as get stronger physically.

Outsourcing

Damn! Cathi was going to start watching a couple of kids just for half a day on weekdays to earn a little extra money. Never thought that Cathi would be forced to improve her child rearing skills and lower her prices to compete with a growing global market for child care.


Report: Many U.S. Parents Outsourcing Child Care Overseas

Hilary Clinton shooting herself in the foot

I must admit that was very much considering voting for Hilary Clinton if Mitt Romney doesn't win the Republican nomination. Before you send me hate mail, or leave nasty comments keep reading! In the past when I saw her speak she seemed sincerely concerned about the American public who have to struggle. Also she has alot of experience in politics (compared to the two front running Republicans).

Well this morning on the way to work I was listening to NPR. I heard a report done by an apparently non-partisan reporter. What made me mad was that Hilary visited this small diner and the waitress was a struggling single mom. Hilary even mentioned her in one of her speeches. But when the reporter went back and tracked her down to discuss her experience with Hilary it appears that the waitress was stiffed. That really made me angry. Why would she not leave a tip (even if the service was bad which I doubt with her being such a celebrity) especially when she must have apparently had a conversation to get to know the waitress' situation.

The problem with being a candidate is that people rarely vote for you because of the right reason. Well, my consideration of Hilary has been lost over a really stupid reason. But this experience shows the true colors of the person. I've never stiffed anybody and I've had some really crappy service. I just don't get it. I honestly was disappointed that she couldn't be smarter. Did she think the waitress would be impressed with being stiffed?

If you want to read or hear the report I heard click here and hit the "listen now" link at the top to hear the full thing. It really is worth a listen to understand the situation. I saw the editor's note at the top. Hilary's cronies responded saying they left $257 that day at the diner: $157 for the meals and $100 in tips. They said they gave the money to the manager. Well if that's the case, then why did the waitress think she was stiffed? Did the manager not share the tip? Something doesn't smell right. Hilary should have been smarter especially with all the cameras and left a tip right there on the table for the waitress who served her. Very disappointed.

Mountain Dew Glowstick

Very cool vid that Shannon Cowley at work sent me.

I won something!

I don't usually enter drawings or call radio stations to win stuff. But I figured since I have a code inside my mountain dew lid I might as well go online and enter it to see if I won something. I probably entered less than 10 codes and each time when they did a drawing at the end of the day didn't get an email saying I won anything.

But this last week I got a black XL Hoodie in the mail.

Dust mite poo is removed

A couple weeks ago we got a new LG front loading washing machine which has been awesome. Our old one died and the repair guy said it would cost $250 to fix. So we just bought a new washing machine which claims to only cost $10/yr to run. It generates its own electricity to help power it and uses much less water.

Anyhow, with the problem a couple weeks ago not being able to breathe (which honestly was persisting for several months) we washed EVERYTHING in our bedroom. I dusted everything using dust spray and a rag which had to be shaken outside several times. Washed the sheets (which we do probably every month anyway, but need to do every week from now on), all the pillow cases, got new pillows, washed the blankets, vacuumed the mattress really good, got a new mattress cover, etc... It took a couple of days, but within two days my right nostril was at 100% which it never was since March of 2007.

So if you are having nasal problems at night, don't buy those stupid nose strips to open your nose up wide. Just do some deep cleaning and replace covers on things. Sleep so much better now!

Halloween 2007

This year I was a deadbeat and didn't dress up. Usually I get an idea in the fall and I go with it, this year I drew a blank. However I did get see some cool pumpkin carvings from an email from Grandma Richins so I did one.

The kids had fun. Jonas went all the way around the block by himself while we were getting the others ready and we didn't notice until we were ready with the others. I drove around the block and found him and honked. He looked up smiled real big and waved at me. When he saw my face he quit smiling and frowned and put his head down like he was sad. He knew he was in big trouble. I chastised the boy and gave him a lesson on using the buddy system.

Then we went out. Austin and Jacob ran off like hooligans and I took Lucy, Jonas and Isaac out. We did the entire two blocks north of us. By that time Isaac was tired and dropped out. Lucy and Jonas wanted more, so I took them out and did two blocks south. They all ended up with huge amounts of candy and a great time.

Sam stayed home with mom (although he did dress up as a green monster earlier in the day for a parade which Mom forgot to get a picture of) and has been stealing candy from his brothers, but when chocolate oozes from his stuffed mouth while he is smiling its hard for him to get in too big of trouble.

Two weeks straight of swimming

Cathi and I have been swimming Monday through Thursday for the past two weeks, and I must admit that I am really getting into it. It isn't a killer like I thought it would. The first two days were hell, but I'm doing 2000 yards now and it isn't that tough. Check out my logs (using just an old school html page) that has ALL my workouts clear back to my High School days at West High.

The problem with breathing - most likely dust mite poo

Back when I saw the allergist he said that I should replace my pillow something like twice a year, and wash my sheets and pillow case every week using hot water and get a pillow case that is hypo-allergenic. I haven't kept that advice very well and I think that I may be suffering as a result.

For the past several months I have had chronic nasal congestion. Sometimes so bad that it affects my sleep (as it did today - causing me to not be able to go back to bed after 3:50 am and went to work to do some research and then get started on the day). Its time for some action! I'm so fed up that I want to get a new mattress. But that won't be cheap. So I think there are many other things I can do to cut the problem down....

Here are a couple of informative sites that may help to understand and control dust mites population:

http://adam.about.com/reports/000077_12.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dust_mite

But this site was the best:
http://www.ehso.com/ehshome/dustmites.php

Our new washing machine comes today. Since its a front loader it will use less water, so I'm gonna ask Cathi to make sure to wash the sheets, and pillow cases in the hottest water setting available. Our hot water heater is already set to a pretty high temperature. I'm going to replace my pillow on the way home and pick up a new mattress cover and pillow case cover that is dust mite proof.

Then when our tax rebate comes in next year, I'm going to replace the mattress. I'm sure that it has millions of mites inside. We bought it used from somebody's garage many years ago. Thinking about that makes me want to puke! Can't wait for a new one!

If you aren't green by now, check out this video and then go clean your bed and change your sheets and pillow!

Near the end when they show "Jane Doe"'s darkened face in her ritzy home with the pool in the background getting cleaned who is horrified that she has an "infestation" really makes me laugh. Problem is they didn't slow down her voice and I now know who it is!

Yogurt stealing

Thanks to Travis for making more public the food stealing issue. Here is a mini-clip of the much larger version he posted on his own blog.

I have a confession. I've taken a couple of squirts of Supratim's ketchup. But being overcome with guilt I bought a big bottle of ketchup for anybody to use. But I am proud to say that I've been a good boy other than Sup's ketchup.

I'm reconsidering leaving a half consumed two liter bottle of mountain dew in the fridge. Somebody might be drinking out of it, or worse yet, could potentially play a really sick joke. We very well could have a transient hiding and camping out somewhere.

Visiting Grandma and Grandpa

This last Friday I took Austin, Lucy and Sam up to Pocatello to visit Grandma and Grandpa Richins. We had a fun time visiting. Near bedtime Lucy wanted to see Mrs. Doubtfire, but Grandma wanted to expose Lucy to some classics so we watched "Heidi" with Shirley Temple. The kids were all glued to the show and enjoyed it. I sacked out with Sam afterwards. His hand by the way is so much better.

We woke up at around 7:30 and prepared for the day, cleaned up the basement made everything as nice as when we got there. Had some breakfast with Grandma and Grandpa. That night it must have snowed 4 inches of wet snow. I shovelled the driveway and prepared to leave. The kids were all talking and playing with Grandma. I had planned to leave before conference started so Grandma and Grandpa could watch it in peace. We listened to it on the way home. Once we got past Inkum it wasn't snowing anymore and there was only a trace on the ground.

US Dollar

This last week I bought an online gift card for an Australian friend. I was originally thinking I could get a big gift since the exchange rate from what I remembered from our October 2001 trip was 1 to 2. For every USD I could get 2 AUD. Well, wishful thinking! It was almost even yesterday. 1:1.12

I thought to myself "Was it really 1 to 2 back then?" So I checked it here. Sure enough it was more than 1 to 2 on October 1st, 2001. It has plummeted since then, and quite a bit this year.

I certainly am not an economist and don't really know the real impacts of the dollar rate in relation to the economy. But I'm not pleased that my dollar doesn't stand up very well like it used to. From the little research I have done. I've seen that the dollar was overpriced in the past and that was a bad thing for some. Check this out.


For me, I like when the dollar is high. I can buy more outside the USA with my dollar when it is high. I don't like the idea that Canada has a stronger dollar than the US. I also realize that the President has very little to do with the value of the dollar. But I need to have someone to blame. I can't stand Pres. Bush and can't wait for that guy to leave office. According to this article there is a strange correlation to President Bush's approval and the value of the dollar. So if that's true and I want a stronger dollar I better say nice things about the doof, I mean Mr. President, your honor, sir.

Found cool website

Looking for code examples for various languages? This might be a good place to start:

http://www.rosettacode.org/wiki/Main_Page

Sam's burn

This last Monday, Cathi called me at work and I could hear Sam crying in the background. She explained to me that Sam got up on the counter (hopefully for the last time) after Jacob had recently made some 2 min. noodles and put his left palm directly on the burner and had burned it pretty bad.

From Family

He had a huge blister on his palm that the Dr's popped a couple days later. They set up an appointment at U of U for the next week to follow up.

I went in with Cathi Tuesday morning and they cut all the dead skin that was used by the long popped blister. They instructed us in how to clean, and redress the wound. He only whimpered a couple of times when they took it off. He was pretty well distracted with a couple of toys that he played with. The night before we went in, I gave him a Father's Blessing. That made a difference I think as he didn't scream, but whimpered a couple times.

From Family

His hand seems to be in more pain with the blister cut off, I think because the nerves are sensitive on that new skin and the blister was protecting it more. But with it popped and dry now, I guess it had to come off from what the U of U people had to say. The U of U burn center was apparently the only of its kind in the Mid-west and they know what they're doing. They told us to change it twice daily and to help him stretch his hand often so that he doesn't lose full functionality of his hand as his skin recovers. It will have a tendency to become tighter, thus harder to stretch than the skin before.

From Family

I sure love that boy. He has been real tough with the recovery, but its taking a toll. It's not as easy anymore and he protects his left hand from getting in the bath, and seems to be using it less which is a worry.

He's gotten on the counter before (as most of the other kids) and have been warned about getting burned. But I guess it really hits home with them when they understand the concern, after the fact.

Over a year later.......There is no scar, no loss of movement, no trace whatsoever of this burn. Sam just has a greater respect for hot things now. So he's doing great! Here's a video of Sam and Oliver under the influence (of sugar):

From Family Videos

Focusing Intensely

Today's table tennis at lunchtime sucked bigtime, until the later end. I was getting beat at about a 50% rate by Gyan and Travis. However at the end I tried something new that I've never done before. Focus. Not mentally, but literally with sight.

I'm not really a big cat fan but one thing I admire about cats is their ability to zero in on prey and put their attention completely on their object. I tried that this time. I kept my eye on the ball with a much greater intensity. When I did that I was able to play much better. In fact when I did that I kept Gyan to 1 and 2 points for two games before calling it a day.

Gotta remember to focus!

Finished first draft of wfttc.org

This evening I finished the first draft of my vision of wfttc.org Sent an email to George Majors for his thoughts. If you check it out and find any typos let me know. If you have any suggestions on UI or navigation, let me know too.

Too Many Bubbles

It doesn't take a whole lot of bubble bath to get some bubbles. Especially when you turn on the jets, that gets them built up even more. The little kids were filthy so I gave them a bath. When Sam declared "Bubbles!" I felt obliged, but I guess I added a little too much. They had fun and we had to give them a shower rinse after getting out cause they were covered.

Discovered "Within Temptation" and rediscovered static-x

Browsing around on Yahoo Music I found "Within Temptation" which sounds to me nearly identical to Evanescence. Which is great cause they rock. I downloaded their latest three albums and so far have been pleased. Here is one of my favorites - Mother Earth.

But on the way to work I heard another song from Static-X which I've had for a while. I was getting into it. What Static-X lacks vocally (which isn't necessarily bad, just different and intriguing) it makes up for in Guitars and Drums. Here is one of my favorites - Chromamatic. The vocals sound just like their name "static".

Volkerball DVD in US

Although I bought the latest Rammstein DVD when it came out in Europe a long time ago, I guess it takes a while for the US to come around to it. I don't really see the point since the real US fans should already have a copy.

I bought the Special Edition and I sure glad the documentaries included English subtitles (which you have to turn on) cause although I really like the German Language and know a few words here and there I definitely can't speak it or understand in conversationally. The concerts shown are amazing and if they come to the Western USA, I'm there!

I still like dogs better

Ever since my adolescence I never liked cats in fact, I would have spent time in juvenile detention if the animal police knew of an incident I was involved in. But lately, my ways have changed and I'm a little more tolerant of cats. The kids have enjoyed having "Zeldamo" that we picked up in Albion. Here is a picture of me sacking out on the floor one Sunday afternoon after church and the cat helping itself to my back as a warm pillow.

Oh if things were simpler

Last weekend we went up to the cabin and it seems like every time we drive through Logan we really enjoy the small town feeling and the "out in the woods" feel and I often say out loud, "Wouldn't it be nice to live here. I think I'll retire here". Last time I even said wouldn't it be nice to get a job up here? Well coincidently I got an email yesterday with a couple job openings for a web developer in Logan. I applied, although it seems highly unlikely it will progress very far. The salary they are offering is not remotely in the range we would need. Reminds me of the Talking Heads Song where you question your place in life. Oh if things were simpler. There are so many variables to consider and I think a change at this point of this magnitude would do more harm than good. But here's to dreaming!

John Pratt's nerdy, but enlightening attacking rule

Here is John's article.

Basically I need to make sure that I'm making no less than 2/3rds of my attacking shots. This forces the defending Ballarino to return at least half them in order to cut even.

Oliver is getting to be real fun

This weekend we went to the cabin mostly to avoid early morning traffic to Smithfield for Jacob's football game. They won 30 something to zero. Jacob didn't play much since he was sick this week and lost his starting position. But it was fun to watch anyway.
We gooed alot with Oliver who is getting to get real cute with the smiles and gooing.

My wishlist

1) Star Trek New Generation Seasons 1 - 7
2) Night Vision Goggles
3) Bag for carrying my stuff. PURCHASED
4) Mike Doughty Tour shirt XX-Large size!

Configuring OC4J 10.1.3 to startup in debug mode

Trying to find documentation on this kind of stuff should NOT be that tough!!!!
But I won the lottery and found it. Here is a link ->

http://download.oracle.com/docs/cd/B32110_01/web.1013/b28950/sysprops.htm#CHDGCJHG

Table tennis is best played like karate, not ballet!!!

I've always realized there have been different playing styles, and I have very strong opinions on what is a desirable style to watch and play and that is an aggressive style, rather than a defensive style, or one that overemphasizes spin over speed. I've seen some people play the game and it reminds me of a martial art. One where it is very aggressive and militaristic. That is the style I like to see.

However the way a couple of guys play at work its being rendered as a very feminine style of play, almost like a ballarino. It annoys me, because they'll often setup using backspin like a ballarino, and then come back with a topspin kill that once in a while they actually get. So I have to remember not to give in to the slow girly type of play, and continuously play offensively even if it seems easier just to chop the ball.

Down with continuous chopping and pushing. Don't be a pussy!

Anonymous Inner Classes

Today I noticed that the class files that eclipse would generate also generated other class files with $1 in the name. I was wondering what that was all about. So I decompiled the class by looking at the files in cavaj. I found that it was small java code that was from constructing a new object without a name (Anonymous innner class).

Gridley Bike Race

Well there were quite a few deadbeats to Dad's challenge, but here is how it went.
We started in front of the FAA building on 700 North turned north on 2200 W to 2100 N and turned right. Went over the overpass down to 1800 N turned right to 2200 W again and turned North. Followed the same path again to get to 1800 N and 2200 W again, then turned south to just past 700 North. Total = 7 miles.

Dad and Mom got a head start of 25 seconds. I got a head start of 5 seconds to Eric. Mom only did the northern loop once so her race was only 5 miles.

Eric passed me quite easily. I wasn't going to kill myself. I saw that Eric was closing in on Dad, but never was able to pass him. Dad won the race with Eric about 100 yards behind him. I don't know what everyone else's times were, but I did the race in 14.4 Avg speed (28 minutes or so) and came in last. Better luck next year.

No Desire - Ich habe keine lust

Today I heard a different version of "Ich Habe Keine Lust" from Peter Schilling which is simply nauseating compared to Rammstein's which is fantastic. Looks like Peter Schilling's version was released in 1999 on his best of album(really?) and Rammstein's in 2005. Talk about upping the ante. Rammstein proving again that they really rule musically. Give them both a listen if "Du habe lust" and give me your opinion, especially if you disagree.

Going back in time in my head

Ever get caught thinkin' this to some degree? (Well not exactly 82, but in that decade!) Well today I was listening to this song by the Church that brought back some memories of swimming for West High, dating Deborah Livsey. Man those were the days!

Read interesting article

I was skimming through my latest Wired magazine, which is usually hit and miss on interesting material. This one caught my attention as it read like a novel, but claims to be true. What happens when people take online chats too far and fall in love with a fantasy?
Read what happens. It's too bad that it resulted in a broken family, a murder, and all of it was based on lies. Now that's messed up!

My feet are still growing?

Why is that my height doesn't increase anymore (Stuck at 5'11"), but my stupid feet apparently are still growing? I bought some size 11 shoes yesterday without trying them on, and then went to a restaurant with them. I had to slip them off under the table, because they were too tight and very uncomfortable. I went back and got size 13 and that was much better.
I've never gone higher than 11 and Cathi is laughing at my "clown shoes" look. Why is it that my feet are still growing? Why can't I get taller so it seems more natural!

Jacob's first football game

Jacob had his first football game. He was the end guy on the line on both defense and offense. He still has to learn to get a fire under him to get after the quarterback. He was able to do well protecting the quarterback and tie up his guy, but on offense, he didn't realize that he was supposed to go around the guy instead of tie him up. He made a couple of good plays. He was able to defend the runner behind him from three guys and the running back was able to get a 12 yard run because of Jacob's blocking. I made a deal with Jacob for several different plays and Jacob managed to earn $8.

$5 - Protecting the runner resulting in a first down
$1 - Tackling a runner with the ball
$1 - Chasing down the quarterback and making him get a sack
$1 - winning the game.

Good job Jacob!

Schlage is better, but more costly too

Took back the broken Qwikset handleset and bought a Schlage handleset for twice the price, but so much easier to install and it looks better. But still $150 for a doorknob? Cmon!
No incident with this installation. Very smooth and took about 10 minutes total.

Home repair nightmare

After my highly successful home repair last month, when the front door would no longer open from the outside I figured I would take a stab at this one. I removed the door handle and looked at the hardware inside. Without going too far into it I realized that some of the highly complex mechanism was broken and I needed to replace the hardware.

I went to home depot yesterday morning on the way to work and noticed that all the handleset were very expensive!!! I didn't see any that matched what we had before. The least expensive one that was silver and had a similar look was $73.97. It was a qwikset handleset UPC 042049477856. I reluctantly purchased it and went on to work.



After work, when I got home the kitchen was a disaster and everyone was gone to Jacob's football practice, except Austin. I started to replace the handleset. Everything in print was duplicated three times in different languages. The instructions were on one piece of paper (for all three languages) and the print was very small. The pictures were small as well. There were several sizes of screws. When I screwed the handle in I picked the screw that looked to be the right size from the picture and from matching it up with the width of the door. It must have had at least 100 turns to get it in with a screwdriver.

When I screwed both in all the way, there was still about 1/8" left. The handle and knob on both sides weren't flush with the door and loose. I looked at the other screws and there was another set that were a little shorter so I started unscrewing the 100 turn screws. When I went as far as I could go the screws wouldn't come out. I pulled the handle out from the door to see what the holdup was, I noticed that the "nut" for the screws had come out of the handle hardware. So I reached down into the gap and held onto the nut, so I could unscrew all the way. When I did that and pulled the screw out, the interior hardware of the handle, fell apart! Parts were falling all over the porch, and I was not a happy camper.

I noticed on the box that it has a lifetime warranty. That lifetime warranty would have satisfied a gnat. I was very displeased

1. With the price - its a freakin doorknob!


2. Lack of detailed instructions (which screw to use)


3. Lack of standarization in door construction (I had to use a cold chisel to carve out a gap for the door slide in the door which wasn't in the old version)


4. Lack of sturdiness of the qwikset door handle


5. Size of schematics was too small!

Needless to say my temper was flared and the evening was ruined for me. I neatly put all the hardware back in the box and will return tomorrow and make another attempt at replacing it.

Modified Home Depot slogan for the day - "You can screw it up. We can help."
This wasn't Home Depot's fault, just fit me well for today.

Funny Flashback

Yesterday I heard a song that caused a flashback......

Back in spring of 2002 I was at Tomax at 8:00 for a meeting held by Jeff Patton. I was in the Snowbird Conference room at 8:00 sharp. Jeff came in and started setting up his presentation on his laptop. Michael Colpitts came in and sat down. Jeff realized he had left something at his desk. Before he left he started playing this song on his laptop loud enough for everyone to hear. I think he was trying to entertain Mike and I for the couple minutes he would be gone.

I immediately recognized the band - Soul Coughing. Jeff Patton has great musical taste I thought. Granted this wasn't Soul Coughing's best song, but Mike Doughty is a great song writer and poet. I like the jazzy and funky sound of his music! When Jeff had left the room, Michael in his effeminate Canadian accent said something like "That's rude. Playing music and then leaving the room, and listen to those lyrics! How offensive!" (The song refers to a plane crashing into a building. The song was written before 9/11 so I'm sure people had unjustly attributed the song to that event.)

"Oh brother lighten up!" I thought. Maybe if he played country, opera or some gay crap, I would have agreed. I didn't say anything, but Jeff scored points with me and Mike lost a couple.

Oops

A few nights ago I was putting the kids to bed, and I admit I wasn't in the best mood. I was gruff with them and wasn't being the best dad in the world. Then I hear a very faint "Hello?" "Who is this?". Oh crap someone is hearing me be a grumpy dad. The phone in my left pocket which has my keys, mp3 player, and possibly my Garmin GPS had called Brian and Robyn Young and I'm on the air!

I quickly hung up, took a deep breath and helped the kids calm down for sleepy time.

Kind of embarrassing though. Brother Gridley sometimes is a Drill Sargent Dad and is broadcasting it to random people using his cell phone. Duh! Gotta remember to do a key lock on the phone EVERY TIME before putting it in my pocket with all my other stuff.

Poop family

Early this morning Isaac (who is 4) was going to the bathroom. Cathi was getting ready for her run and just checked up on him. He was audibly grunting. She commented on his success, "Great Job Isaac, you went Poo!" Isaac wasn't satisfied, "I've got a whole family." "A Family?" Cathi said. Isaac laughs and says "Yeah, A poo poo family". I had to laugh. What an imagination these kids have!

Napolean Sounds

I put together a new Napolean Theme for my desktop with lots of short Napolean clips. Got alot of Napolean Wavs from here.

Seriously one of my favorite movies ever.

Wake up call

I recently watched a home made video by a guy in my Stake of various Iraq war video coverage that was produced with some patriotic country music to go with it. At the time I watched it and while others around me were crying with pride, I thought it was a little over emotionalized.

I recently watched a couple of video clips of soldiers in Iraq who took video of Camel Spiders. Some people think of US soldiers as brave and honorable. What does that mean? I don't think anybody thinks these guys are perfect human beings. But it was eye opening to hear the language these guys were using. It was disappointing.

I'm an adult and I've heard profanity before and even used it myself in times of duress. But to hear profanity used flamboyantly and as common language makes me sick and angry. I'd like to think that our soldiers are god-fearing men and that we truly are fighting evil. I'm sure that many of them are, but definitely not all. But the experience reminds me that there is black and white mixed everywhere. There are very few absolutes (at least where men are involved), good vs. evil.

Who are we to think we have all the answers and start executing judgment by taking away the lives of others on the other side of the world? Some say "Better in Iraq, than here at home". Well, show me your crystal ball. Are our soldiers really fighting for our freedom by fighting in Iraq right now? I don't think so. Maybe to a small extent. Sure there are some really bad things happening in Iraq right now. But how much better off is it really than when they were ruled by a dictator? Instead of an organized madness, it's a disorganized madness.

But this is coming from a very narrow point of view. I don't claim to know a whole bunch about what's going on. But it is my point of view nonetheless and unless someone can explain and show otherwise I'll probably not really see the point of our being there.

Your thoughts?

How I look on Simpsons

I watched a show last night about Burger King and how they have some aggressive marketing going on. They're partnering with the Simpson's movie and showed a website where you can "Simpsonize" yourself.

I went ahead and tried that. The picture uploading is very picky. It needs to be fairly large and a straight on head shot. No less than 640x480, but not too large. I used this photo.

After "simpsonizing" me, and making a few changes to some details, I ended up like this:
They wouldn't let you customize the head shape which I think they were rather kind about. I think the rendering could have been much less flattering. But pretty entertaining nonetheless.

Here is Cathi's likeness:

Cabin Trip

Friday I was all ready for my outpatient surgery vasectomy but when I presented them with my new Insurance card they said they don't take Aetna. I was very annoyed. I had taken work off for this, I even shaved for this! So now I have to go find another Urologist who will make me wait another three months for the procedure. I was quite angry at the whole situation, but went ahead with the plan to go to the cabin.

The good news is that I won't just sit on my backside at the cabin as I was expecting. We did some fishing, went down the Canal twice, went in the hot tub, ate some good food and enjoyed the scenery.



We had a fun time and enjoyed the trip.

Defcon 4

Yesterday just before dinner Cathi mentioned that she bought her own Birthday Present. I didn't think much about it but asked how much she spent. She hesitated. "OK. Let's play the Hi Lo game from Price is Right.", I thought. "$300", I said, "Lower", $200, Lower, $100?, higher, $150?, nope $160".

Ok. What'd you get? "Some kids software." Huh? Cathi is usually complaining about how much time the kids are spending on the computer and she buys some kids games? Well these were supposed to be educational. I asked where she got it and this is where the Star Trek Red Alert sounded throughout the house.

"Sulu, raise shields!" I thought after she said "from some door to door sales people". I asked her if she already paid, "Yes", "OK - where's the software then?". "They'll deliver it here in a few weeks". My blood was starting to heat up quickly at this point. Defcon 4 had been reached.

Bill Gephardt would have probably agreed that a spanking was in order. But my anger management counseler's image appeared in my head telling me to just cool off and go on a walk. I took some deep breaths and asked for the receipt. The software was 10 CD's full of crap games. What I mean is games that was probably a Computer Science major's summer project and looked good on paper, but without the software in hand, installed and tried, made the $160 seem way over priced.

During the next 10-15 minutes I voiced my displeasure, but did so without causing a huge family crisis. I told Cathi that she needed to contact the sales people and get the money back. She agreed and apologized which was good, but very unsatisfying as she didn't really try to argue her case. I was also unsatisfied because I wanted the solution NOW and I also wanted to know with complete certainty this wouldn't happen again and was concerned that her turn to my line of thinking was so quick that she was just trying to avoid an argument rather than really understand my reasoning.

By the time dinner was over I was back to normal and Defcon 5 was reestablished.

After dinner I went upstairs and started helping Cathi fold clothes when I heard the doorbell ring and Jacob running upstairs smiling and saying "Mom, I found them for you down the street and said you wanted to talk to them". The sales girls were back. I can see why they smoothed Cathi over. Pretty Irish college girls trying to earn money over the summer. They gave me their 5 minute spiel including pictures and short descriptions of each game. But I wasn't budging. They gave us back the check and asked us to go through the cancellation process on the receipt.

So some lessons that hopefully were learned:

1. Don't let door to door sales people in - unless its a neighbor kid doing a fund raising project. That's OK - cause it's more like charity rather than buying something you need


2. Communicate before buying something over $100


3. Don't pay for something from a stranger unless you get the goods in hand.


4. Software, especially simple kids games doesn't (or shouldn't) cost that much!


5. I'm going to buy a "No Soliciting" sign for our door

I'll buy some flowers for Cathi though since the incident was disarmed so nicely, and she didn't get angry at me even though I was pretty hot. Afterall, it was HER birthday present which I made her return. Maybe she can get something for herself that she really wants.

Low Reunion 2007

Sunday I finally got around to downloading the pictures from the Camera an putting them into this webpage.

Hot Water Heater Expansion Tank Failure/Replacement

Yesterday when I got home and just when we started to eat, Jacob said "Dad, its a good thing you gave us that Family Home Evening lesson on how to turn off the electricity, gas and water in case of emergency. In the basement where the soft water tank is there was water spraying out of a pipe and water was everywhere, so I turned off the water to the house."

What the heck! I was home for probably 15 minutes and it comes up just as we start eating? I went down and turned the valve to the house back on see a spray of water coming from the top of a blue tank that was labeled "Potable Water Expansion Tank - Watts Regulator". Didn't have a clue what it was or its purpose. I did see that the stream of water was hitting some studs and floor joists. It hadn't been damaged too long, probably half a day or so and the leak while small, was pressurized and spraying about 12 inches away on to the wood.

I looked at the leak and it was due to some corrosion near the opening. I called Roto Rooter to see if they could come out and fix. Got an appointment for the next morning. I filled up two tubs with water and got a pitcher of ice water for drinking put into the fridge. Turned off the water and still the stream was happening. I unscrewed a cap on the bottom and noticed a valve that looked like a air valve on a tire. I got a pencil and pushed on the center pin and air came out and the pressure dropped and the water stream stopped.

In the morning I thought I would just stop at Home Depot to see how much a replacement tank was. I found a tank that was blue but it was much bigger and was fed from the bottom. I asked a guy there and he explained to me what the purpose of the tank was.

Many residential meters allow water in, but not back. When water is heated up it expands and builds pressure. Hot water heaters aren't designed to handle this pressure and since the water flow can't go back into the street there needs to be a mechanism to handle that excess pressure of water coming from the water heater. This tank adjusts and regulates that pressure. He took me the location of a replacement tank and it was only $49. Here is the model I bought. It was still only 7:15 am so I figured I would just go home and replace it myself.

On the way home I asked Cathi to call Roto-Rooter (who called her and postponed the appointment to 9:00) and cancel. Going without running water in your house even for a few hours is a huge pain! I can't imagine the inconvenience that people must go through who don't have running water.

Replacing the tank was easy. I turned off the water heaters the night before and drained the house line completely. I removed the tank, put teflon tape on the threads of the new tank and screwed it back on. Turned the water back on, relit the hot water heaters and that was it! Only cost me $50. Wish I would have gotten an estimate to see how much Roto Rooter would have charged me for the part and for labor. It took me about 20 minutes in labor and $49 in parts. I bet I saved at least $100.

My quest to 220

For the past 10 years I have loomed around 240 pounds. Well the time has come to lower that to 220. Then once that milestone has been reached, go for 200. So in order for this to happen I have resolved to do the following:

1. No more Mountain Dew (or any soda for that matter)


2. Eat breakfast, medium lunch, light dinner (no eating after dinner)


3. No deserts


4. More fruit


5. Drink lots of water


6. Bike with Cathi in the evenings (5 days a week)


7. Play more intense table tennis


8. I will add more techniques to this list as time goes on

I'm hoping that I can be down to 220 by September, and then 200 by Christmas. I'll update how things go.

Another reason why President Bush is lame

I could go on and on why I think President Bush is a complete doofus, but when he allows a colleague to go unpunished (at least for jail time) for his crimes, it demonstrates his disregard for the justice system. I'm not claiming to be a scholar on the situation, but it appears that President Bush is letting the same crime that caused President Clinton to be impeached, to go unpunished. Why the hypocrisy?

He, and many other politicians (not just Republicans) are making me lose faith that we can really have honorable and righteous men represent us in our Government. Maybe we should consider a woman?

Albion, Idaho city park location

This Friday (6/29/07) is the annual Anderson family reunion at the Albion, Idaho city park. Here is a google placemark for the exact location.

2007 Utah Summer Games results

If you don't want to read this summary, but want to see some good shots click here for some video clips of the tournament.

Thursday David To (a co-worker of mine) picked Austin, Jacob and myself up at 11 to head down to Cedar City. The tournament didn't start until Friday so we just relaxed the first evening.

Friday morning Austin and Jacob played in their 14 and Under, as well as the 17 and Under divisions. Austin took 4th in the 17 and Under and 1st in the 14 and Under divisions.
Jacob took 4th in the 14 and under division. Austin was extremely annoyed at losing one particular game and I needed to spend a few minutes with him to calm him down. David To also played in the 40 and Over category. He took 4th in that division.



In the afternoon Austin and I played in the Class A doubles. There were two categories for Doubles, Open and A. Open being reserved for the great players, and Class A for the, well, beginners. Doubles was a double elimination tournament which meant that if you lost twice you were out. We played two different doubles teams and beat them. On our third match up we played a couple of brothers. One of them was especially good at chopping. Austin was getting frustrated with that style and was unable to adjust to his extreme backspin. We lost that match. We went to the losers bracket.

We played a couple more times and won which put us in the finals against the same two brothers that had beaten us earlier. I had hope that Austin would be able to quickly adapt to the backspin chop style in order to get a win and he did! We won the first three games. This meant that we both had 1 loss. If we beat them again 3 out of 5 one more time then we would get the gold. I could tell that the one chopper brother was tired and had lost alot of drive to play his best. Austin took advantage of that and played his best. We won the next three again. Honestly, we could not have done it had Austin not adjusted his game and learned how to return the low chops that were coming his way. I was very proud to be his partner!



Friday evening we went to KFC and came home and swam in the hotel pool. Watched School of Rock on TV with Austin while David and Jacob both sacked out real early. On Saturday we woke up at 6:30 and got ready to leave, had breakfast and went to the gym at 7:45. We warmed up a ton. I was a little stiff. The preliminaries for the Singles were set. I was seeded at second (Class A). Austin had to play a difficult player for the preliminaries which knocked him into the Class C Division which was the lowest. This was especially hard for Austin to overcome. He didn't want to play in the lowest division.

Jacob was also in Class C. Jacob was having so much fun playing with Kenny Majors that I often had to go track him down to get him to play. He would go over to the Olympic Weightlifting event and sweet talk lifters out of their Power-ade drinks. He would run over the women's basketball event as well and chase girls. Where he got his energy is a mystery. He just played around in his matches and took dead last in the entire tournament. He didn't shed a tear, he had fun strutting around like he was something really bad.



David To was placed in the B division. In the preliminaries I was to play against Meg. I knew her from years of play at the Wasatch Front Table Tennis Club. I knew that she was rated about 300-400 points above me and that it would be a complete dream to beat her. She won the first game. I won the second game. The third game was a deuce game, but she stole it from me. The third game she kicked me around real good and won 11 - 1. It was an enjoyable match up. I was pleased with the win and the near win on the third. After the matches were all done and George was doing the Division assignments he asked me if I would mind playing in the Open. He said that the games I played with Meg were the closest of all the preliminaries and that the Open needed another player to make things more even in the A Division. I was honored! I was hoping to get in the Open so I could be the underdog for a change. Usually I have been in divisions where I could medal. Now I was in a division where I could fight like a monster and have nothing to lose.

There were 8 people in each division and the singles were a round robin which meant that everyone had to play 7-8 games against everyone. Of all the people in my division I won one person (Carol Davis), almost beat another (2-3 against Doug Hansen), and took one game from every one else (except Meg and Byron who beat me 3-0). I did play my best and left very satisfied that I had stepped up in my play. I still have a long way to go and can improve a ton more, but was happy that I didn't actually place last in my division and opened the eyes of a few of the really good players. I was second to last in the Open Division (7th place).

Austin again played some tough players and ended up with Bronze Medal in the Class C Division. David To took 4th in the Class B Division.

When we left the boys were hungry but we wanted to get on the road so we said we might stop later. They slept the entire four hours so we didn't stop and got home at 9:30 pm. It was a fun and tiring tournament. Looking forward to improving over this next year and going next year. Austin still has some major anger issues that we need to work on. I don't know why he has such a hard time considering he took home three medals (2 Golds and 1 bronze). I also was lucky to bring home a Gold myself thanks to him in the doubles. Jacob expressed an interest in changing over to shake-hand grip. I have since hidden his paddle and given him one of my old paddles. Will need to work with him to learn how to hit using this new grip. Hoping that his competitive drive increases. I wish I could somehow steal some competitiveness from Austin and give it to Jacob. Then they both would be balanced in the amount needed.