‘tsabout time.

Way back at the beginning of October I started cleaning out my office and posted about looking for a roommate.  This week, with the trip to the DI and getting rid of a bunch of stuff, I finally got the room ready.  Now I just have to find a compatible roommate.

I don’t want to advertise, I don’t need a roommate bad enough that I’m willing to go through all the trouble of meeting a bunch of total strangers and trying to figure out which one I can trust in my house, and could live with.  The three times I’ve rented out that room it was to people I worked with or the friend of a trusted friend.  All three times it worked out great.  Not perfect, there’s always issues when you share your personal space with another human, but there were no regrets.

So, I’ll wait.  The room may stay vacant for a while and it may take a little longer to pay off the debts I want to, but that’s ok.  Good roommates come to those who wait.

Merry Christmas

 

Just a picture #15

On the first day of Christmas that my District gave to me…

…I found these “Strangers among us” pictures.

You might have seen this picture before, but the reason it’s one of my favorites is because of the stranger that was just skiing past as my friend and I were doing the photo shoot.

Strangers, looking at the water flowing down a main street in Salt Lake during the floods of ‘83.

Sugarhouse panhandler that had a distinct limp and needed a crutch – when cars were around and he was working.  When the light was green and no cars were stopped his limp disappeared and he was stashing his booty in a pack on his nice, expensive bicycle.

Medieval sword fighting in Liberty Park.

What is stranger than someone purposely driving their $60,000 Porsche on a road made of salt?

“I’d like to teach the world to sing…”  Nope, not a modern day Coke commercial, they were watching UDOT move a bridge into place.  They built the bridge to cross I-215 in the area between the off ramp and the freeway, and then moved the completed bridge into place.  This disrupted traffic on 4500 South for a mere day, rather than weeks or months.

Just a picture #14

Just a picture #13

Just a picture #12

Just a picture #11

Just a picture #10

Some of those weird online quizzes.

Yeah, I had a free hour or so and decided to waste it taking these online quizzes.  So, here’s a little peek into my psyche. (Quizzes in no particular order) 

What Be Your Nerd Type? Your Result: Social Nerd You're interested in things such as politics, psychology, child care, and peace. I wouldn't go so far as to call you a hippie, but some of you may be tree-huggers. You're the type of people who are interested in bettering the world. You're possible the least nerdy of them all; unless you participate in other activies that paled your nerdiness compared to your involvement in social activities. Whatever the case, we could still use more of you around. ^_^
Science/Math Nerd
Gamer/Computer Nerd
Artistic Nerd
Drama Nerd
Literature Nerd
Musician
Anime Nerd
What Be Your Nerd Type? Quiz Created on GoToQuiz

What type of person do you attract? Your Result: You attract geeks! Your stunning intellect and love of sci-fi and video games allures the geeks like nothing else. Maybe it is the sparkle in your eye that makes them want to text you, who knows. Geeks make good partners, but tend to be arguementative. If you are a TRUE geek magnet, you will know if that was spelled correctly, and actually care. If it is a bad-boy/bad-girl you are seeking, you are barking up the wrong tree, unless they are just 'bad' behind a PS2 console.
You attract artsy people!
You attract Yuppies!
You attract rednecks!
You attract unstable people!
You attract models!
What type of person do you attract? Quiz Created on GoToQuiz

Which Positive Quality Are You? Your Result: Peace You are Peace. Peace is the opposite of anger and destruction. Peace is calm. It tears down barriers; it brings us together. Peace is a noble goal sought by the good of heart. "May peace prevail on earth."
Friendship
Faith
Charity
Courage
Love
Which Positive Quality Are You? Quiz Created on GoToQuiz

ANIMOLOGY: What Animal Are You? Your Result: Silver and Red Wolf *howl* You're a very strong person. You tend to be naive most of the time, but when in love boy do you know how to get around! You prefer to be quite around adults. Your soul mate is the gold falcon. You're in conflict with the maroon panda.
Teal Cat
Blue Fox
Ocre and Gray Dolphin
Red Jaguar
Gold Falcon
Tan Giraffe
Yellow Trout
ANIMOLOGY: What Animal Are You? Quiz Created on GoToQuiz

You paid attention during 74% of high school!

68-84% Pretty good, you know that there are libraries and newspapers, and you remember what you've read. You were a child that wasn't left behind!

Do you deserve your high school diploma?
Take More Quizzes

My Political Views
I am a left moderate social libertarian
Left: 6.16, Libertarian: 1.84

Political Spectrum Quiz
My Foreign Policy Views
Score: -4.68

Political Spectrum Quiz
My Culture War Stance
Score: -6.03

Political Spectrum Quiz

What's Your Best Quality? Your Result: Personality Your best quality is your personality! People like you because you are an all around good person. You have good manners and values. You also like to express your personal style and interests.
Intelligence
Sense of Humor
Ambitious
Out-Going
Loving
What's Your Best Quality? Quiz Created on GoToQuiz

You Are 16% Hypochondriac

While your physical health isn't always perfect, you don't freak out about it. You know there's only so much you can do, and worrying doesn't change anything.

Are You a Hypochondriac?
Take More Quizzes

what is your natural element Your Result: water you go with the flow. accept change adapt quickly. you love water to consume and/or to play in. you are very nice and you love loveones deeply. you are very slow maybe.
air
fire
earth
what is your natural element Quiz Created on GoToQuiz

What mental disorder do you have? Your Result: ADD (Attention Deficit Disorder) You have a very hard time focusing, and you find it difficult to stay on task without your mind wandering. You probably zone in and out of conversations and tend to miss out on directions because you cannot focus
GAD (Generalized Anxiety Disorder)
OCD (Obsessive Compulsive Disorder)
Manic Depressive
Paranoia
What mental disorder do you have? Quiz Created on GoToQuiz

You are 0% Suicidical

You're a happy person, right? I hope you stay like that, and if you change from happy to Not happy, remember how it was, how it is now, and that that time will come back, believe me. I'm happy for you cause you're happy! Share your happiness with other people, it can save lifes! Keep going on like this and be nice for other people, Hug Karolien

How Suicidical Are You?
Take More Quizzes

Remodel red.

The Chevron I work at a couple days a week has just recently had a major makeover.  New paint, new signage.  And a change from bland greys to… da, ta, da, da,… RED.

The new signs that are throughout the store.

Think you might miss where the restrooms are with this sign?

The cashier area, done in red.

Right above the entry door.

And no post about red is complete with these University of Utah flags that we sell.  (P.S. – we don’t even sell blue flags with a “Y” on them.)

 

Seeing red, or at least should be.

The theme for this week is “seeing red”.  Great color.  For my set of pictures, with some of them you are going to have to “see red” in your mind’s eye.  Because although all these cars were (or are) red in real life, I only have black and white (turned sepia) photos for some of them.

So, follow along as we take a tour of “the red cars I’ve owned.”

The first red car I bought was when I was 21, a burgundy 1967 Ford Mustang.  This is one of the cars I truly regret getting rid of.  I paid $1,000 for it, owned it for almost 2 years when the engine started to go out on it.  I traded it straight across for a 1974 Mercury Capri. 

In 1986 I bought this 3 year old Convertible Mustang.  My friends and I put about 700 miles on it the first day I had it, without ever leaving the Salt Lake valley.  It got it’s name, Christine, from a friend who went for a 10 minute errand with it and ended up going through an entire tank of gas.  She decided it was possessed, and named it after Stephen King’s book.  The only reason I got rid of it was because a 14 year old in a stolen TransAm turned left in front of it and stalled his car.  I’ve never been without a convertible since.

I bought this 1980 Mustang to use for parts on Christine, trying to repair the damage that the TransAm did on Christine.  It looked great after I was done, but she never ran the same.

In 1988 I inherited this 1984 Nissan 200SX Turbo from my mom.  It was the car that finally made her understand my vehicular obsession, and she used to love to race (and often beat) teenage kids in souped up cars.  I eventually sold it to my older brother.

I bought this 1980 Chevy Citation in 1990 to part out for my 1980 Buick Skylark.  I pulled out the 6 cylindar engine and the automatic transmission in the Buick and replaced it with this car’s 4 cylindar and manual transmission.  It was a fun, and frustrating, conversion and left the Buick more powerful and more fun to drive.

In 1992 my dad gave me this 1984 Cadillac Cimarron, for free.  It was the exact same body as the Chevy Cavalier, and I had always wanted to get a Cavalier convertible, swap all the trim from the Cadillac to it and make a one of a kind Cadillac Cimarron Convertible.  It died before I had the chance.

Technically, this isn’t a red car, but the bright red naugahyde interior of this 1970 Ford LTD convertible has at least as much red as most of the smaller red cars I had.  I still have this car, next summer I’m hoping to have the time and $$$ to put a new transmission into it.

The last red car I owned was this 1999 Ford Mustang that I bought brand new.  6 cylindar with a manual transmission, I had no choice but red.  The dealer searched all the cars in Utah, there were only 3 with a 6 cylindar and a manual (2 of my requirements), and they all were red.  I ended up selling it to pay off some bills.

Relaxed!

This morning I got up and found the two cats relaxing in the living room.

I thought “Now that’s what a Saturday is for.”

And then I went outside and saw this;

and thought “That sun is pretty powerful stuff.”

Hope you’re all having a great weekend too.

Black Friday: Muted at the Park.

Standing on 13^th East looking west, Black Friday is in full swing at the Sugarhouse Center.  Shopko, Big 5 Sports, Toys-R-Us and a slew of other shops are noisy with the hustle and bustle of shoppers looking for a deal.

Just swing around 180° and it’s a whole different story.  Sugarhouse Park, muted by the draw of cheap goods, sits all but vacant.

No kids playing in the playground.

Evidence of an earlier visitor, probably there for the peace and quiet, like I was.

Nobody playing football in the field or volleyball on the court.

A forgotten kite caught on a wire, flapping in the wind.

An empty road that is usually lined with cars that brought people to feed the ducks.

The closest thing to a crowd was a row a seagulls all standing facing the wind.

I saw at tops a dozen people at the park today.  It was calm, quiet and peaceful.  A little cool, especially when the wind picked up, with just a twinge of dreary because of the overcast day.

But sometimes, especially when you know almost everyone else is crammed into the chaos of crowds, the solidarity is refreshing.